Higher Education Student Support in Scotland 2015-16 · PDF fileHigher Education Student...
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A National Statistics Publication for Scotland
Higher Education Student Support in Scotland 2015-16
Statistical summary of financial support provided to students by Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS)
in academic session 2015-16
October 2016
Higher Education Student Support in Scotland 2015-16
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Contents
1. Overview ................................................................................................................... 1
1.1 The role of SAAS........................................................................................................... 1
1.2 Structure of report ....................................................................................................... 2
1.3 Changes from previous report ..................................................................................... 3
1.4 Key findings .................................................................................................................. 3
2. Student funding policy in Scotland ............................................................................. 6
2.1 Which students receive support .................................................................................. 6
2.2 How funding is determined ......................................................................................... 7
2.3 Types of funding available ........................................................................................... 7
2.4 Other funding support available to students .............................................................. 8
3. Full-time students ...................................................................................................... 9
3.1 Key findings .................................................................................................................. 9
3.2 Support provided to students.................................................................................... 11
3.3 Circumstances of students ........................................................................................ 13
3.3.1 Location of university or college ............................................................... 14
3.3.2 Demographic characteristics ..................................................................... 15
3.3.3 Household income .................................................................................... 16
3.3.4 Qualification level of course...................................................................... 18
3.4 Bursaries and Grants.................................................................................................. 19
3.5 Tuition fees ................................................................................................................ 20
3.6 Loans .......................................................................................................................... 22
3.7 Disabled Students Allowance .................................................................................... 23
3.8 Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation ...................................................................... 24
4. Part-time students ................................................................................................... 26
Contents
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4.1 Key findings ................................................................................................................ 26
4.2 Support provided to students.................................................................................... 26
5. Nursing and Midwifery students .............................................................................. 28
5.1 Key findings ................................................................................................................ 28
5.2 Support provided to students.................................................................................... 29
6. Discretionary and Discretionary Childcare Funds ...................................................... 32
6.1 Key findings ................................................................................................................ 32
6.2 Support provided to students.................................................................................... 33
Annex 1. Changes to student funding policy ................................................................. 35
Key funding changes in recent years ................................................................................ 35
Bursaries and Grants ......................................................................................................... 37
Bursaries ................................................................................................................ 37
Living cost grants ................................................................................................... 37
Tuition Fees ....................................................................................................................... 38
Main tuition fee support ....................................................................................... 38
Variations of tuition fee support ........................................................................... 39
Fee loans ................................................................................................................ 39
Loans ................................................................................................................................. 40
Student loans from 2013-14 onwards ................................................................... 40
Other loan issues ................................................................................................... 40
Income assessed support .................................................................................................. 41
Part-time Fee Grant scheme changes in 2013-14 ............................................................ 41
Annex 2. Glossary of terms .......................................................................................... 43
Bursaries and grants ......................................................................................................... 43
Disabled students ............................................................................................................. 44
Domicile ............................................................................................................................ 44
Higher Education Student Support in Scotland 2015-16
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Income .............................................................................................................................. 45
Institution type ................................................................................................................. 45
Loans ................................................................................................................................. 46
Nursing students ............................................................................................................... 47
Qualification level ............................................................................................................. 48
Spatial disaggregations ..................................................................................................... 49
Student type ..................................................................................................................... 50
Tuition Fees ....................................................................................................................... 50
Annex 3. Methodological notes .................................................................................... 52
Data sources and coverage ............................................................................................... 52
Data quality ....................................................................................................................... 52
Data confidentiality........................................................................................................... 53
Timeliness of data ............................................................................................................. 53
Comparability with other sources .................................................................................... 55
Reporting and presentation of statistics .......................................................................... 56
Annex 4. Data Tables – Full-time students .................................................................... 57
Annex 5. Early analysis of 2016-17 applications ............................................................ 71
Annex 6. A National Statistics Publication for Scotland ................................................. 73
Contents
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List of Figures
Figure 1.1: Overview of SAAS schemes of support ................................................................... 4
Figure 3.1: Full-time supported students by award type and year (number of students) ..... 11
Figure 3.2: Full-time supported students by award type and year (amount paid) ................ 12
Figure 3.3: Full-time students total support by domicile of student ...................................... 14
Figure 3.4: Full-time students location of study by institution type ...................................... 15
Figure 3.5: Full-time students age by gender ......................................................................... 16
Figure 3.6: Full-time students household income .................................................................. 17
Figure 3.7: Full-time students qualification type by year ....................................................... 18
Figure 3.8: Full-time students type of bursaries and grants awarded ................................... 19
Figure 3.9: Full-time students level of tuition fee support ..................................................... 21
Figure 3.10: Full-time students authorised for loans by level of support .............................. 22
Figure 3.11: Full-time students receiving DSA support by disability type .............................. 23
Figure 3.12: Full-time students by support type and SIMD quintile ...................................... 25
Figure 5.1: Nursing and Midwifery support by type of bursaries and grants awarded ......... 30
Figure 5.2: Nursing and Midwifery support by age and gender ............................................. 31
Figure 6.1: Discretionary Fund and Discretionary Childcare Fund support............................ 33
Figure A1: Number of applications by September of each year for full-time student support and domicile of student ......................................................................... 71
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List of Tables
Table 3.1: Key trends of support provided to full-time students ........................................... 10
Table 4.1: Part-time students receiving tuition fee support .................................................. 27
Table 4.2: Part-time students receiving tuition fee support by age and gender ................... 27
Table 5.1: Nursing and Midwifery support by year ................................................................ 29
Table 6.1: Discretionary Fund and Discretionary Childcare Fund support ............................. 34
Table 6.2: Discretionary Fund support by type of support ..................................................... 34
Table A1: Full-time students type of support provided.......................................................... 58
Table A2: Full-time students domicile of student................................................................... 59
Table A3: Full-time students location of study by institution type ........................................ 60
Table A4: Full-time students institution location and type by support type provided .......... 61
Table A5: Full-time students age by gender ........................................................................... 62
Table A6: Full-time students household income by type of support ..................................... 63
Table A7: Full-time students qualification type and domicile of student .............................. 64
Table A8: Full-time students receiving bursaries and grants (number of students) .............. 65
Table A9: Full-time students receiving bursaries and grants (amount £ million) .................. 66
Table A10: Full-time students level of tuition fee support ..................................................... 67
Table A11: Full-time students receiving living cost loan support ........................................... 68
Table A12: Full-time students receiving DSA support by disability type ................................ 69
Table A13: Full-time student type of support by SIMD quintile ............................................. 70
Table A14: Number of applications for full-time student support and proportion of students receiving support by end of session ..................................................... 72
Contents
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List of Diagrams
Diagram A1: Timeline of changes to student funding support .............................................. 35
Diagram A2: Summary of types of support available by year ................................................ 36
Diagram A3: Support tables 2015-16 ...................................................................................... 41
Higher Education Student Support in Scotland 2015-16
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1. Overview
The Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) provides financial support and advice to eligible students in full-time and part-time Higher Education. In particular, SAAS administers the student support arrangements for Scottish domiciled Higher Education students studying throughout the United Kingdom (UK), and to some outwith the UK, as well as European Union (EU) students studying in Scotland.
This report provides the main statistical findings on students who received financial support from SAAS in the academic session 2015-16 (and 2014-15 for certain students). Statistics such as these are used across SAAS for funding, policy and evaluation purposes.
Financial support covers non-repayable bursaries and grants paid to students, the payment of tuition fees or provision of fee loans, and the authorisation for living cost loans1.
1.1 The role of SAAS
SAAS is an Executive Agency of the Scottish Government under the terms of the Scotland Act 1998. The Agency operates independently and impartially while remaining directly accountable to Scottish Ministers. The main work of the Agency is to assess and pay student financial support in line with the Scottish Government policy of fair access to Higher Education based upon ability to learn rather than ability to pay.
The Scottish Government’s National Performance Framework underpins delivery of the Scottish Government's agenda to an outcomes-based approach to performance2. The Government’s stated Purpose is to focus government and public services on creating a more successful country, with opportunities for all of Scotland to flourish, through increasing sustainable economic growth.
This purpose is in turn underpinned by five Strategic Objectives. SAAS contributes to the Smarter Scotland objective with the aim of expanding opportunities to succeed from nurture through to lifelong learning ensuring higher and more widely shared achievements.
1 The actual payment of loans is administered by the Student Loans Company (SLC). Applications for loans are
assessed by SAAS which determines the amount the student is entitled to and subsequently what is authorised for payment. The most recent estimates on take-up are published by the SLC in the ‘Student Loans for Higher Education in Scotland: Financial year 2015-16’ publication (http://www.slc.co.uk/official-statistics/student-loans-debt-and-repayment/scotland.aspx), published June 2016
2 http://www.scotland.gov.uk/About/Performance
1. Overview
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Scotland Performs3 measures and reports on progress of government in Scotland towards the Purpose, tracked through 16 National Outcomes and 50 National Indicators. SAAS contributes directly to the following outcomes:
We have tackled the significant inequalities in Scottish society.
We are better educated, more skilled and more successful, renowned for our research and innovation.
Our young people are successful learners, confident individuals, effective contributors and responsible citizens.
Our public services are high quality, continually improving, efficient and responsive to local people's needs.
The Programme for Government4 sets out the Scottish Government’s vision of a fairer, more equal Scotland. Central to that vision is the ambition that a child born today in one of the most deprived communities should, by the time he or she leaves school, have the same chance of going to university as a child born in one of our least deprived communities.
This report helps inform these through evidencing how applications for student support for Higher Education in Scotland are assessed and processed and the resultant financial support provided to students.
1.2 Structure of report
To help set the policy context of Higher Education student funding in Scotland, some of the key policy issues are set out in chapter 2 (Student funding policy in Scotland). Additional information is provided in the annexes: Annex 1 (Changes to student funding policy) sets out more recent changes to funding policy for full-time students, whilst Annex 2 (Glossary of terms) provides a summary of terminology used throughout the report.
The report then looks at the different types of students provided support through each of the main funding schemes separately: Full-time students (chapter 3); Part-time students (chapter 4); Nursing and Midwifery students (chapter 5); and, Discretionary and Discretionary Childcare Funds (chapter 6).
Annex 3 (Methodological notes) provides information on the data sources used in compiling the statistics, an overview of the quality aspects of the data as well as comparability with other sources. Additional information is also provided on reporting conventions used throughout the report (Annex 3).
3 http://www.scotland.gov.uk/About/Performance/scotPerforms
4 http://www.gov.scot/About/Performance/programme-for-government
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Time series data tables are provided for full-time students supported through the main Undergraduate and Postgraduate schemes in Annex 4. Analysis is generally presented for each academic session over the 10 year period between 2006-07 and 2015-16.
1.3 Changes from previous report
No substantial amendments have been made to the structure of this report, compared to the last release – Higher Education Student Support in Scotland 2014-155.
Additional analysis on full-time students and the type of support they are provided by both the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation and the Scottish Government 6-fold Urban Rural Classification is provided in Annex 4 (Data Tables – Full-time students). It should be noted that no formal assessment of the robustness of address information has been undertaken, which means the address used for each student may reflect their term-time address as opposed to their permanent residence.
The analysis on students supported through the Nursing and Midwifery Student Bursary (NMSB) scheme is reported as being provisional for 2015-16. In previous reports, the main analysis presented in chapter 5 (for example, Figure 5.1: Nursing and Midwifery support by type of bursaries and grants awarded) would have referred to the first release of final figures for the previous session (for example, the 2014-15 report will have reported on the 2013-14 session). For this report, analysis is presented for 2015-16 (and not 2014-15) as the change from provisional to final results for 2014-15 suggested the change is small enough to not impact on the overall picture.
SAAS welcomes any comments on potential improvements for future releases6.
1.4 Key findings
Figure 1.1 shows a high level overview of the range of schemes within which students are provided support in academic session 2015-16. References to numbers of students within this report will always mean students supported by SAAS (unless otherwise stated)7.
The vast majority of students are full-time students, typically funded through the Undergraduate scheme (141,000 students who received around £805.8 million of support at an average of £5,720 per student). This covers students studying full-time at undergraduate
5 http://www.saas.gov.uk/_forms/statistics_1415.pdf
6 Please provide any comments on statistical issues to [email protected]
7 ‘Students supported’ are those receiving awards and/or tuition fees or tuition fee loans and/or who have
been authorised for living cost loans (which are paid by the Student Loans Company).
1. Overview
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level as well as others studying at postgraduate levels. If students are studying a Professional Graduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) full-time, the funding arrangements will be the same as for a full-time undergraduate. SAAS also supports certain taught postgraduate courses, mostly at diploma level – funded through the Postgraduate Students’ Allowances Scheme (PSAS). For further analysis, please see chapter 3 (Full-time students) and Annex 4 (Data Tables – Full-time students).
Figure 1.1: Overview of SAAS schemes of support
Type: All | Session: 2015-16 | See also: Table A1 / Table 4.1 / Table 5.1 / Table 6.1
Part-time students studying on eligible courses are funded through the Part-time Fee Grant (PTFG) scheme. This scheme provides help towards the cost of tuition fees. In 2015-16 there were 16,575 students who received around £12.8 million of support at an average of £780 per student. For further analysis, please see chapter 4 (Part-time students).
2 Nursing and Midwifery Bursary Scheme - provisional data 2015-16
1 Discretionary and Discretionary Childcare Fund schemes: assessment of applications and issuing of amounts as administered by institutions, 2014-15 results
2015-16
166,365 supported students
£879.8 million funding
@ £5,290 avg per student
Direct support to students from SAAS excluding Discretionary and Childcare Funds
@ indicates the average amount of support per student or instances of support
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SAAS administers the Nursing and Midwifery Student Bursary (NMSB) scheme on behalf of the Scottish Government Health and Social Care Directorate. This includes students who are on a diploma course or a degree course in nursing or midwifery. In 2015-168 there has so far been 8,790 students who received around £61.1 million of support at an average of £6,950 per student. For further analysis, please see chapter 5 (Nursing and Midwifery students).
The Discretionary Fund provides financial support to students if they have difficulty entering Higher Education for financial reasons or have financial difficulties while they study. Similarly, the Discretionary Childcare Fund provides help for students at university with children on registered or formal childcare. These funds are administered (assessing applications and paying students) by the universities and colleges in Scotland, though SAAS determines the initial allocations of funds to the institutions and collates returns from each institution, which evidences how the funds have been used. The scheme includes a redistribution of funds unspent in the next session, as such this report only covers up to 2014-15. In 2014-15 there were 14,355 instances of assistance9 for around £16.1 million of support at an average of £1,120 per student. Please see chapter 6 (Discretionary and Discretionary Childcare Funds).
SAAS also works in partnership with Skills Development Scotland (SDS) to assess applications for support under the Individual Learning Accounts (ILA) scheme. SDS publish statistics on the ILA scheme10. The SAAS Annual Report and Accounts 2015-201611 also provides some statistics, noting that SAAS received and processed 43,845 applications and 11,270 income reassessments on behalf of this scheme in 2015-16 as at May 2016 (a decrease from 49,970 and 14,795 respectively in 2014-15).
8 Provisional results, please refer to Table 5.1 (Nursing and Midwifery support by year) for final 2014-15
results.
9 Individual students may be assisted more than once.
10 http://www.skillsdevelopmentscotland.co.uk/statistics/individual-learning-accounts-ila/
11 Report laid with Parliament 10 August 2016, http://www.saas.gov.uk/_forms/saas_annual_report_1516.pdf
2. Student funding policy in Scotland
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2. Student funding policy in Scotland
Learners in Scotland have the option of undertaking a wide range of learning including Further or Higher Education. The course chosen will determine the type and level of funding available. The policy on what support is available is determined by the Scottish Government12.
SAAS provides support to students studying in Higher Education, as opposed to Further Education13. Further details on what Higher Education covers is described in section 2.1, whilst additional information is provided in the subsequent sections on how funding is determined (including the types of criteria students must meet to get certain awards) and the funding they may get.
Further information is provided in Annex 1 (Changes to student funding policy) on more recent changes to student funding in Scotland.
2.1 Which students receive support
SAAS provide support to students studying Higher Education (HE) courses, which are at Higher National Certificate (HNC) level or above. These can be taken either at college or at university and include a honours degree or ordinary degree, and a HNC or Higher National Diploma (HND).
Most full-time students will be funded through the Undergraduate scheme.
If students are studying a Professional Graduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) full-time, the funding arrangements will be the same as for a full-time undergraduate.
A different package of support is provided to those studying a Postgraduate Diploma through the Postgraduate Students’ Allowances Scheme (PSAS).
Analysis on the above schemes is provided in chapter 3 (Full-time students) as well as detailed time series analysis in Annex 4.
Tuition fee support is provided for certain part-time students through the Part-time Fee Grant. Analysis for this scheme is provided in chapter 4.
12 http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Education/UniversitiesColleges/16640/learnerfunding
13 Further Education are courses which are not taught in school and are below Higher National Certificate
(HNC) level. Higher Education are courses of study which are at Higher National Certificate level or above.
Higher Education Student Support in Scotland 2015-16
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Pre-registration nursing and midwifery students are funded by the Scottish Government’s Health and Social Care Directorate through the Nursing and Midwifery Student Bursary (NMSB) scheme. SAAS deals with their applications and administers their payments. Analysis for student supported through this scheme is provided in chapter 5.
Additional support is available to students experiencing financial difficulties through the Higher Education Discretionary and Discretionary Childcare Funds. Discretionary Funds are administered directly by the universities and colleges, whilst Discretionary Childcare Funds distributed by SAAS are only administered by the universities14, though SAAS determines the initial allocations of funds to the universities and colleges and collates returns from each institution which evidences how the funds have been used. An overview of how the institutions have distributed the funds from this scheme are provided in chapter 6.
2.2 How funding is determined
The financial support available to individuals will depend on different things such as:
meeting residence conditions;
what course they want to study;
their income and family circumstances ;
how old they are ;
where they want to study; and
whether they want to study full-time or part-time.
2.3 Types of funding available
Since 2001-02, support for new entrants has typically consisted of up to three elements:
non-repayable bursaries and grants which are targeted to certain groups of students (e.g. young students from low income households, students with disabilities, students with dependents);
tuition fees paid by SAAS on behalf of all eligible students (direct to the university or college of study) as well as fee loans to help students to pay private fees or study in the UK fees;
14 Discretionary Childcare Funds for college students are allocated by the Scottish Funding Council (SFC).
2. Student funding policy in Scotland
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living cost support through a loan paid by the Student Loans Company.
Bursaries and grants as well as fees are paid directly from the Scottish Government’s Departmental Expenditure Limit (or DEL). Funding for loans is provided by HM Treasury from what is known as the Annually Managed Expenditure (AME) budget. However, for every £1 of loan paid by HM Treasury from its AME budget, it costs the Scottish Government 31p from its DEL budget to cover the cost of subsidising interest on the loans and the cost of loans which may eventually be written off.
2.4 Other funding support available to students
In considering the information presented in this report it may also be useful to be aware of some other sources of finance which fund different types of student support.
Most universities have their own bursaries and scholarships. Access to these can depend on the students own academic and financial circumstances.
SAAS do not provide financial support for some courses because of their type or level (for example National Certificate courses). Students studying in Further Education can ask for support for these courses from the college itself, if they are studying at a college in Scotland, or the education department of their local council, if they are studying outside Scotland.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) assess students’ entitlements to benefits. Full-time students are generally not eligible to claim certain benefits. But full-time students with dependants and students with disabilities may be eligible in certain circumstances. Similarly, students and their families could receive more money from tax credits through HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).
Support may also be available through Educational Trusts. For example, SAAS maintain a Register of Educational Endowments15 containing information on Scottish trusts (of which they are aware). Students can only get help from a trust if they meet the eligibility conditions of that trust. The conditions vary from trust to trust (e.g. where they were born, what school they went, their age etc), and only the trustees can decide if they are eligible.
15 http://www.saas.gov.uk/_forms/ree1.pdf
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3. Full-time students
This section provides an overview of full-time students supported through the main funding schemes. This covers students studying full-time at undergraduate level as well as others studying at postgraduate levels. For a fuller explanation of who is funded through these schemes please see section 2.1 (Which students receive support) and additional information in the associated annexes.
Analysis presented includes the number of students and the value of support provided for those who either received support or were authorised for loans by SAAS (for payment by the Student Loans Company, SLC). References to supported students in this chapter mean full-time students funded through the undergraduate and postgraduate schemes.
3.1 Key findings
141,000 supported students
The number of students supported has increased by 1.2% from 139,370 in 2014-15 to 141,000 in 2015-16
£805.8 million total support package
The total amount paid in bursaries and grants, fees or authorised in loans for 2015-16 session was £805.8 million, an increase of 3.1% from 2014-15 (£781.3 million)
£5,720 average support per student
The average support per student in 2015-16 session was £5,720, an increase of 2.0% since 2014-15 when the average was £5,610
£486.3 million in loan authorisations
The total amount authorised in loans was £486.3 million in 2015-16 at an average of £5,290 per student (£5,270 in 2014-15)
49,815 students receiving in non-repayable awards £66.1 million
The number of students receiving non-repayable bursaries and grants decreased by 4.8% – 49,815 receiving £66.1 million support in 2015-16 (compared to 52,330 and £63.6 million in 2014-15)
One-in-ten are EU students studying in Scotland
There were 14,705 European Union (EU) students supported in 2015-16 which is 10.4% (no change from 2014-15) of the total number of students supported by SAAS, and they received a total of £28.0 million in support which is 3.5% of the total support paid or authorised by SAAS
3. Full-time students
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Table 3.1 summarises the number of full-time students and amounts paid or authorised by SAAS for academic session 2015-16, and the change in these numbers between 2006-07 and 2014-15 to 2015-16 respectively.
Table 3.1: Key trends of support provided to full-time students
Type: Full-time | Session: 2015-16 | See also: Table A1
This is the third year of student support following a number of changes made in 2013-14 to simplify the student support system as part of the Post 16 Education Reform Program16. This meant that the types and value of support students received changed substantially from 2012-13.17 For example, the total amount of support provided in bursaries and grants reduced by over a third, offset by a substantial increase in authorisations for student loans (61.4% increase). For 2015-16 (as with 2014-15 also), the same direction of change has continued though on a much smaller scale – the number of students receiving loan support
16 http://www.scotland.gov.uk/topics/education/post16reform
17 A factual inaccuracy in this line was identified and updated in November 2016.
2015-16
% change
2014-15
to 2015-16
% change
2006-07
to 2015-16*
Total Support
Number of students 141,000 1.2% 15.6%
Amount £805.8 m 3.1% 82.8%
Average per student £5,720 2.0% 58.4%
Bursaries and grants
Number of students 49,815 -4.8% -14.9%
Total paid £66.1 m 4.0% -35.7%
Average paid per student £1,330 9.0% -24.4%
Fees
Number of students 134,760 1.0% 19.7%
Total paid £254.0 m 2.0% 67.0%
Average paid per student £1,890 1.1% 40.0%
Loans
Number of students 92,005 3.4% 14.4%
Total authorised £486.3 m 3.7% 161.7%
Average loan authorised £5,290 0.4% 129.0%
* Changes made to student support system in 2013-14 mean comparisons should be treated with caution
Higher Education Student Support in Scotland 2015-16
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has increased by 3.4% from 88,985 in 2014-15 to 92,005 in 2015-16, with the average loan amount authorised increasing slightly to £5,290.
3.2 Support provided to students
The total number of students supported18 has been increasing gradually over the past decade, which is line with the trends seen in the number of full-time students in Higher Education generally19.
The number of full-time students increased by 1.2%, from 139,370 in the 2014-15 academic session to 141,000 in 2015-16 (Figure 3.1) receiving some form of support through the Undergraduate scheme.
Figure 3.1: Full-time supported students by award type and year (number of students)
Type: Full-time | Session: 2006-07 to 2015-16 | See also: Table A1
The number of students receiving fees (which includes both those having their tuition fees paid and those receiving tuition fee loans) has also been increasing gradually over the past
18 Students can be in receipt of any combination of bursaries and grants and/or fees and/or loans.
19 Higher Education Students and Qualifiers at Scottish Institutions 2014-15, Scottish Funding Council, March
2016 (http://www.sfc.ac.uk/communications/Statisticalpublications/2016/SFCST052016.aspx)
0
20,000
40,000
60,000
80,000
100,000
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140,000
160,000
2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16
Nu
mb
er o
f st
ud
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Total Support Bursaries and grants Fees Loans
3. Full-time students
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decade in line with overall support. In 2015-16, 134,760 of supported students (95.6%) received some form of fees support (Table A1) – a slight decrease from 95.8% in 2014-15.
The number of students receiving non-repayable bursaries and living cost grants, increased in 2010-11 (when Independent Students Bursary was introduced), then decreased in 2011-12 (when support for travel expenses was subsumed within the student loan). Since then there has been a decrease each year, with 49,815 students receiving some form of bursary or grant from SAAS in 2015-16.
Figure 3.2 illustrates the 10-year trend in amounts paid or authorised by SAAS as total support, broken down by bursaries and grants, fees and loans.
Figure 3.2: Full-time supported students by award type and year (amount paid)
Type: Full-time | Session: 2006-07 to 2015-16 | See also: Table A1
Total support was increasing steadily until 2010-11, followed by little change in 2011-12 and 2012-13. There was, though, a substantial change in 2013-14, with the total amount paid or authorised by SAAS (including tuition fees, bursaries, grants and student loans) increasing by almost a quarter to £734.7 million (from £584.3 million in 2012-13). Total support increased by 2% to £805.8 million in 2015-16 - in real terms, this is a 3.1% increase on the 2014-15 session (£781.9 million in 2014-15 at 2015-16 prices)20.
20 ‘Real terms’ totals are calculated by applying Gross Domestic Product (GDP) deflators to the total amount of
support in cash terms. This provides a measure of government expenditure in 2015-16 prices. GDP deflators at market prices, and money GDP: June 2016 (Quarterly National Accounts)
66.1
254.0
486.3
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illio
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Bursaries and grants Fees Loans
Higher Education Student Support in Scotland 2015-16
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The average amount of overall support per student was £5,720 in 2015-16, an increase of 2% compared to 2014-15 (£5,610). Other than the significant increase in 2013-14, the average amount of overall support has been increasing by around £120 per year over the past decade.
The overall increase is in the main explained by an increase in the total amount authorised in student loans, with the total amount increasing from £468.8 million in 2014-15 to £486.3 million in 2015-16 (a 3.7% increase). Prior to 2013-14, the average amount21 authorised in loans had been gradually increasing over the past decade (other than a drop in 2005-06) though the changes to student support package in 2013-14 meant that this increased markedly to £5,020 – from £3,110 in 2012-13 (a 61.4% increase).
It should be noted that in 2015-16 an additional £125 in bursary support (paid as an ad-hoc payment) was paid to eligible students receiving either the Young Students’ Bursary (YSB) or Independent Students’ Bursary (ISB) with a household income under £24,000. The total amount of support provided in bursaries and grants increased by 4% to £66.1 million in 2015-16 (from £63.6 million in 2014-15)22. The additional £125 bursary is reflected in an increase to the average amount of bursary and grant support per student of £1,330 in 2015-16, compared to £1,220 in 2014-15 (though still down on the high of £1,860 in 2012-13).
The amount paid out on fees (including fee loans) increased to £254 million in 2015-16 (2% increase) at an average of £1,890 (which is roughly comparable to the full-time degree or equivalent fee rate of £1,820 which in turn is inflated by courses attracting higher fee rates or those receiving fee loans).
3.3 Circumstances of students
In line with the increasing number of supported students overall, the numbers of Scottish domiciled students (those who are assessed as Scotland being their permanent home)23 and those who are European Union (EU) domiciled students both increased in 2015-16.
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/gdp-deflators-at-market-prices-and-money-gdp-june-2016-quarterly-national-accounts. See also Table A1.
21 See Table A1 for more detailed analysis.
22 See section 3.4 for further breakdowns on the types of bursaries and grants provided.
23 See Glossary of terms (Annex 2) for further information.
3. Full-time students
14
Figure 3.3: Full-time students total support by domicile of student
Type: Full-time | Session: 2015-16 | See also: Table A2
The number of Scottish domiciled students now stands at 126,290 which is 89.6% of the total number full-time students supported by SAAS (Figure 3.3). These students received around £777.8 million of support, at an average of £6,160 per student (compared to £6,040 in 2014-15).
In 2015-16, 14,705 EU students received support. EU domiciled students would typically only be eligible for a fees only support package and are not normally entitled to the living cost loans and bursaries that Scottish domiciled students can apply for (but can get grants). This is evident in them receiving on average £1,900 of support (compared to £1,880 in 2014-15).
3.3.1 Location of university or college
The number of students supported by SAAS who are studying in Scotland has been increasing over the past decade, with 137,130 supported by SAAS in 2015-16 (increasing from 135,550 in 2014-15) (Table A3). The number choosing to study outside Scotland has generally been decreasing over the past decade, though there was a slight increase in 2015-16 to 3,870 (compared to 3,820 in 2014-15).
Number of students
Total support
Average support per student
126,290
£777.8 million
£6,160
141,000
£805.8 million
£5,720
14,705
£28.0 million
£1,900
Scottish Domiciles TotalEU Domiciles
Higher Education Student Support in Scotland 2015-16
15
Figure 3.4: Full-time students location of study by institution type
Type: Full-time | Session: 2015-16 | See also: Table A3
Figure 3.4 shows that 97.3% of all supported students study in Scotland, with the vast majority (75.3% overall supported students) studying at a university in Scotland. Those students studying outside Scotland are more likely to study at a university (3,590 receiving support) rather than at a college24.
The ‘Other’ category typically covers those studying at private institutions.
3.3.2 Demographic characteristics
There are more female students being supported by SAAS (78,390 students, 55.6%) than male (62,610, 44.4%) (Figure 3.5). The percentage of female students has been increasing gradually since 2008-09 when 52.5% of students were female, and from 55.4% in 2014-15.
24 Though it could be that some students who are eligible for support do not seek financial support from SAAS
for some reason, including those studying outside of Scotland.
In Scotland
Universities
Colleges
Other
Universities
Colleges
Other
Outwith Scotland
106,225 (75.3%)
30,545 (21.7%)
360 (0.3%)
3,590 (2.5%)
185 (0.1%)
95 (0.1%)
137,130 (97.3%)
3,870 (2.7%)
3. Full-time students
16
Figure 3.5: Full-time students age by gender
Type: Full-time | Session: 2015-16 | See also: Table A5
Whilst there are more female students being supported by SAAS, there is no apparent age profile difference within each gender. For example, just over half of supported students are aged between 18 and 20 (50.3% of females and 50.1% of males) whilst over a quarter are aged between 21 and 24.
3.3.3 Household income
In 2013-14, a number of changes were made to the student support system which included a simplification of the income assessment part of awards. This meant that the analysis for 2013-14 is not directly comparable with that from previous years. For further information please see Annex 1 (Changes to student funding policy).
Those students who did not declare any income, or were not required to declare any income, made up over two-thirds of supported students (96,205) (Figure 3.6). This group of students accounted for around £476.6 million of the total support provided for all students (59.1%) at an average of £4,950 per student (Table A6).
For those students where income is not declared/required, a further analysis distinction has been made based on whether those students were provided bursary support (either Young Students Bursary, YSB, or Independents Students Bursary, ISB). As an example, if they were receiving the maximum level of bursary support (£1,750 for YSB and £750 for ISB) then that would indicate the student could be associated with the lowest income group.
Of the 96,205 income not declared/required students, close to nine-in-ten of these are only eligible to receive the non-income assessed elements of student support (84,715 students).
7.6%
50.3%26.8%
15.4%7.1%
50.1%28.7%
14.1%
Females by age
Males by age
Female
Female
17 and under 18 to 20 21 to 24 25 and over
55.6% of supported students are female
44.4% of supported students are male
78,390
62,610
Female Male
Higher Education Student Support in Scotland 2015-16
17
Those where no income is recorded but the student is receiving the maximum level of bursary support (with most of those being those in receipt of the Independent Student’s Bursary) make up 10,055 students – these could be taken in conjunction with the 23,895 students from the lowest income group (up to £16,999) to give 33,950 students (24.1%) having low incomes. Similarly, a further 1,430 receiving some other amount of main bursary support.
It should be noted that these proxy measures does highlight some apparent anomalies, such as the group 'receiving no bursary' receiving higher average bursary and grant support than those receiving less than the maximum bursary - it should be remembered though that this analysis also includes grant support which is non-income assessed.
Figure 3.6: Full-time students household income
Type: Full-time | Session: 2015-16 | See also: Table A6
Just under one third (31.8%) of supported students (44,795) supplied information about their household income. Of those, 23,895 had a household income of less than £17,000 – 53.3% of all those who provided income information, or 16.9% of all supported students. This cohort of students are entitled up to the maximum amount of support available – and received on average £7,870.
There were 2,965 students (2.1% of all supported students) who had a declared income of £34,000 and above. Table A6 shows that they received on average £920 in bursaries and grants. Most of these are made up of those who receive a Disabled Students Allowance (which is non-means tested) or those who had provided provisional income estimates below the £34,000 threshold which entitled them to a bursary award. When the final income evidence is provided these payments will subsequently be recovered.
96,205
23,895
8,955 8,980
2,965
0
20,000
40,000
60,000
80,000
100,000
120,000
Income notdeclared/required
Up to £16,999 £17,000 to£23,999
£24,000 to£33,999
£34,000 andabove
Nu
mb
er o
f St
ud
ents
receiving max
bursary10,055
receiving less than
max bursary1,430receiving
no bursary84,715
3. Full-time students
18
3.3.4 Qualification level of course
Figure 3.7 shows that there was an increase in the number of students studying for each level of qualification, other than those studying below degree level. The number of students studying for their first degree has been increasing gradually over the past decade (except for a small decrease in 2005-06) and stood at 102,890 of all supported students (73%) in 2015-16.
Just below a quarter (24%) are studying at a “other undergraduate” level (33,865), which includes those studying below degree level, a decrease 235 students compared to 2014-15. Following a slight decrease the year before, the number of students studying at a postgraduate level has increased to 4,155 in 2015-16 (2.9% of all supported students) compared to 3,595 (2.6%) in 2014-15.
Figure 3.7: Full-time students qualification type by year
Type: Full-time | Session: 2006-07 to 2015-16 | See also: Table A7
Table A7 in Annex 4 shows the level of qualification full-time students are studying for by whether they are Scottish domiciled or not. Around nine-in-ten (89.6%) of all supported students are Scottish domiciled students, of which 89,495 were studying at their first degree level (70.9% of all Scottish domiciles), whilst over a quarter (26.3%) were at the other undergraduate level (33,255). There were 3,540 (2.8%) receiving support at postgraduate level.
The vast majority of EU domiciled students supported by SAAS (91.7%) are studying at a first degree level (13,485), whilst those studying on other undergraduate courses or are postgraduates both making up 4.1% each of all EU domiciled students qualification levels (or 610 students in each). Postgraduate students who are not on teacher training courses are
0%
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30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2015-16
Per
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of
sup
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rted
stu
den
ts
Postgraduate First Degree Other undergraduate
Higher Education Student Support in Scotland 2015-16
19
supported through the Postgraduate Students’ Allowances Scheme (PSAS)25. There were 500 EU nationals benefiting from the PSAS fee loan in 2014-1526.
3.4 Bursaries and Grants
In 2015-16 there were 49,815 full-time undergraduate and postgraduate students in receipt of non-repayable bursary and grant support from SAAS, a 4.8% decrease from 2014-15 (52,315) (Table A8). This continues a year-on-year reduction in the number of students receiving bursary and grant support, and as Table A8 shows there were falls across each of the main bursary and grant types other than for Disabled Students Allowance.
Figure 3.8: Full-time students type of bursaries and grants awarded
Type: Full-time | Session: 2015-16 | See also: Table A8 and Table A9
25 The scheme was changed in 2012-13, meaning that postgraduate students on selected courses became
eligible for fee loans which they are expected to pay back, rather than tuition fee payments which they may have received in previous years (and which they would not have been required to pay back).
26 Analysis not presented in tables.
Bursary£49.7 million (75.2%)
Living Cost Grants£11.3 million (17.1%)
Other£5.1 million (7.7%)
Awards made: 49,815 students receiving £66.1 million of support
Young Students Bursary£38.2 million (57.8%)
Independent Students Bursary£11.5 million (17.4%)
Disabled Students Allowance
£7.7 million (11.7%)
Lone Parents Grant
£3.0 million (4.6%)
Dependants Grant
£0.6 million (0.9%)
`Adhoc Payments
£5.1 million (7.7%)
Bursary
Living C
ost G
rants
3. Full-time students
20
The total amount of support provided in bursaries and grants increased by 4% to £66.1 million in 2015-16 (from £63.6 million in 2014-15) (Figure 3.8). As can be seen in section 3.6 (Loans) this was offset by an increase in the number and amount of loans authorised.
As noted in section 3.2 (Support provided to students), an additional £125 in bursary support (paid as an ad-hoc payment) was paid to eligible students receiving either the Young Students’ Bursary (YSB) or Independent Students’ Bursary (ISB) with a household income under £24,000. If these had been dispersed as bursary payments (as opposed to ad-hoc payments) then the proportion of bursary payments would have been much higher – for example, 81.7% of all bursary and grant payments in 2014-15 were for either YSB or ISB. This additional bursary payment explains the increase in total amount of bursary and grant support, and in turn the higher average support.
Around three-quarters (75.2%) of the total amount of bursary and grant support was provided through the main bursaries – YSB providing £38.2 million of support (£1,250 per student on average), and ISB providing £11.5 million of support (£710 on average) – similar averages to those from 2014-15.
Living costs grants accounted for less than one-fifth (17.1%) of the total amount of support (£11.3 million) in 2015-16 (a fall from 17.8% in 2014-15). The biggest living cost grant support was provided through the Disabled Students Allowance (£7.7 million) which accounted for 11.7% of all bursary and grant support.
Of the 49,815 students receiving any bursary or grant support, the majority of these (93.6%) are receiving either the Young Students Bursary (YSB) (30,480 or 61.2%) or the Independents Students Bursary (ISB) (16,135 or 32.4%). Both of these awards are designed to support students with a low household income.
These students may also be entitled to additional living cost grants, such as the Lone Parents Grant (2,495)27 or the Disabled Students Allowance (4,355). Students may also have been awarded living cost grant support even where they were not in receipt of the main bursaries. For example, this may include those who are not entitled to bursary support due to previous study rules, or those whose income was too high to gain a bursary.
3.5 Tuition fees
The total number of students receiving tuition fee support, including fee loans, increased by 1% between 2014-15 (133,460) and 2015-16 (134,760) (Table A10). This equates to around 95.6% of students receiving some form of fee support in 2015-16 – Figure 3.9 shows that of those receiving fee support, 96.1% of students received tuition fees whilst 3.9% received (repayable) fee loans.
27 Postgraduate students are not entitled to the Lone Parents Grant.
Higher Education Student Support in Scotland 2015-16
21
Figure 3.9: Full-time students level of tuition fee support
Type: Full-time | Session: 2015-16 | See also: Table A10
The total amounts paid in fees or fee loans has increased by 2% from £249 million to £254 million in 2015-16. This included a 11.9% increase in the amount of fee loans provided (£33.5 million).
Of these receiving any form of fee support in 2015-16, 94.8% were provided “full fees” – i.e. the normal public fee rate to cover the full cost of a course28. There were 127,800 students receiving full fees, around £217.4 million of support at an average of £1,700 per student.
Students may also be able to claim for “half fees” which are typically awarded to those students who spend part of their year on work placement and only require part of their fee to be paid. There were 825 students receiving half fee support at an average of around £910 per student.
There was a further 830 students who received “other fees” rates which includes those studying at private institutions (who get a slightly different rate from the public fee rate) or those receiving income assessed fees (cases where SAAS pays some of the normal public fee rate). These could be above or below the full fee rate.
The number of students receiving fee loans in 2015-16 was 5,310 (a 8.7% increase from 4,885 in 2014-15). This re-establishes the trend of annual increases (following a slight decrease in 2014-15), particularly since the changes in 2011-12 when students supported from the Postgraduate Students’ Allowances Scheme (PSAS) became eligible for fee loans (as well as undergraduate students studying in the rest of UK, who have received fee loans since 2006-07). This would also include UK institutions outside Scotland who have fees up to a maximum of £9,000 per year.
28 See description of tuition fees and fee rates in Annex 2.
FEES0%
50%
100%
0%
50%
100%Full Fees (94.8%)
127,800 students receiving £217.4 million in fees at an average of £1,700 per student
Normal public fee rates
Half Fees (0.6%)
825 students receiving £0.8 million in fees at an average of £910 per student
E.g. those on work placement
Other Fees (0.6%)
830 students receiving £2.3 million in fees at an average of £2,800 per student
Such as private institutions who get a slightly different rate of tuition fee, those on income assessed fee rate or medicine students in fifth year of study
Fee Loans (3.9%) 5,310 students receiving £33.5 million in fee loans at an average of £6,320 per studentStudents taking out a Fee Loan to pay their tuition fees
Percentage of fee rate amount paid
3. Full-time students
22
3.6 Loans
In 2015-16, the number of students who were authorised for a living cost loan was 92,005 – an increase of 3.4% compared to 88,985 in 2014-15 (Table A11). The total amount authorised was £486.3 million, at an average of £5,290 per student.
Figure 3.10: Full-time students authorised for loans by level of support
Type: Full-time | Session: 2015-16 | See also: Table A11
Figure 3.10 shows a summary of the loans authorised in 2015-16, assessed on whether the student’s original loan entitlement based on their circumstances (as opposed to the amount finally authorised, which may be lower) was determined to be the non-income assessed amount of £4,750.
Just over half (51.5%) of all students authorised for a loan were entitled to the minimum non-income assessed loan. This was awarded to 47,415 students making up £215.4 million of loans at an average of £4,540 per student (on final amount authorised).
There were 44,590 students authorised for loan who were entitled to more than the minimum, receiving £270.8 million of support at an average of £6,070 per student (those who get non-income assessed loan amount and an additional amount based on their income).
It should be remembered that the loans authorised by SAAS will be different than the final take-up as recorded by the Student Loans Company (SLC). In particular, students who withdraw from their studies (but had received a loan prior to this) are always retained by SLC and the loan transactions for the session show up in the final take-up numbers. SAAS on the other hand may rescind the entire loan depending on the date on which they student withdraws and show a net amount authorised as zero – hence student numbers and the final amount authorised may be lower for SAAS.
Similarly, not all students who are authorised for a loan by SAAS actually end up taking out the loan with SLC. Previous data matching exercises have shown that those who did take up the loan was typically at least 99%.
Non-Income Assessed Loan47,415 (51.5%)
£215.4M@ £4,540
Income Assessed Loan
44,590 (48.5%)£270.8M@ £6,070
Higher Education Student Support in Scotland 2015-16
23
3.7 Disabled Students Allowance
Figure 3.11 shows the number of full-time undergraduate and postgraduate students provided Disabled Students Allowance (DSA) support and the total amounts paid out29. The number of students receiving DSA support in 2015-16 was 4,355 (an increase of 2% from 4,270 in 2014-15).
The amount paid is dependent on the needs and circumstances of the students, meaning that the amount paid can vary substantially year on year. In 2015-16, £7.73 million of support was provided through DSA at an average of around £1,780 per student (compared to £1,690 per student in 2014-15).
Figure 3.11: Full-time students receiving DSA support by disability type
Type: Full-time | Session: 2006-07 to 2015-16 | See also: Table A12
Dyslexia has historically been the single largest reason for students getting DSA support. Over half of students (56.5%) received DSA support associated with their dyslexia (2,460), a decrease from 2014-15 (61.1% or 2,610). This amounted to £3.1 million of support in 2015-16, an average of £1,250 per student.
29 Students receiving support from other schemes are also able to receive DSA support. As such, these figures
do not refer to all DSA support paid by SAAS in 2015-16.
0
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2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2015-16
Am
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illio
n
Nu
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f St
ud
ents
All DSA recipients Disability: Dyslexia Disability: Any other
All DSA recipients Disability: Dyslexia Disability: Any otherAmount £ million
Number of Students
3. Full-time students
24
There were 1,895 students receiving DSA support in 2015-16 having some other form of disability30, other than dyslexia. These students received £4.7 million of support at an average of £2,460 per student. Table A12 in Annex 4 provides the detailed analysis showing the breakdown by specific disability types.
After dyslexia, those who were considered to have multiple disabilities (475 students receiving £1.25 million of support) and those with a mental health problem (325 students, £0.48 million) were the next biggest cohort of students.
The group of students with a disability type which resulted in the highest average amount of DSA support was those with a hearing impairment. There were 80 students with a hearing impairment, receiving £0.48 million of support at £5,960 per student (increase from £4,920 in 2014-15). There were 60 who had a physical or motor impairment (average of £4,830 per student, up from £3,440 in 2014-15) and a further 85 students with a visual impairment receiving DSA support (average of £3,000 per student).
3.8 Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation
The Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) is a widely used measure in evidencing the extent to which colleges and universities are becoming more inclusive of students from under-represented groups in Scotland. Figure 3.12 shows how support provided by SAAS to students differs according to the SIMD quintiles – from students resident in the 20% most deprived areas of Scotland through to the 20% least deprived areas.
Overall (supporting details in Table A13), there is a marked difference in the number of students with 19,450 (15.2%) coming from the 20% deprived areas through to 34,745 (27.1%) in the 20% least deprived areas. The average amount of support per student though shows the opposite – those from deprived areas receive more support on average (£6,940) than others (down to £5,400).
30 Information on disability is only captured for those students claiming DSA support from SAAS. The nature
and severity of the disability is based on an assessment of needs by a relevant qualified person, and may not reflect the disability type the student submits as part of their original application. There are many students in Higher Education who may be sufficiently supported through their college or university and therefore, do not need to claim DSA. There are others who, for a variety of reasons, choose not to disclose their disability. There may also be students who are not eligible to claim DSA from SAAS but who are being supported through another funding body and/or their college or university. Therefore, the number of students with disabilities in Higher Education will be higher than the number recorded here.
Higher Education Student Support in Scotland 2015-16
25
Figure 3.12: Full-time students by support type and SIMD quintile
Type: Full-time | 2015-16 | See also: Table A13
Figure 3.12 shows that bursary and grant support is directed more towards to those from deprived areas with 12,630 (25.6% of all bursary and grant supported students) compared to 7,350 (14.9%) for those from the least deprived areas. Despite the differences in numbers of students supported by SIMD, the average amount of support is more equitable with the average bursary and grant supporting ranging from £1,270 to £1,390. It should be remembered that bursary support has an element of income assessment, and as deprivation is highly correlated with income it would suggest those from deprived areas would be more likely to receive bursary support.
The profile of fee support differs from that for bursary and grant support. In particular the average per student is much lower for those from deprived areas (£1,680) compared to those from the least deprived areas (£2,020). This reflects the fact that a much higher proportion of students from the most deprived areas are studying on courses below degree level (8,335 or 42.8%) as compared to those from the least deprived areas (5,290 or 15.2%). Courses below degree level attract a lower fee rate (£1,285) as compared to degree level studies (£1,820). Those from less deprived communities are also more likely to receive fee loan support, made available for students studying elsewhere in the UK to pay part or all of their fees, which are higher amounts again.
£0
£1,000
£2,000
£3,000
£4,000
£5,000
£6,000
£7,000
0
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10,000
15,000
20,000
25,000
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35,000
40,000
1 2 3 4 5
Ave
rage
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ort
£
Nu
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er o
f St
ud
ents
Bursary and grants Fees and fee loans Loans
Bursary and grants Fees and fee loans LoansAverage support £
Number of Students
20% most deprived 20% least deprived
4. Part-time students
26
4. Part-time students
Students who are undertaking an undergraduate level course or a Professional Graduate Diploma in Education (PGDE)31 on a part-time or part-time distance learning basis may be eligible for payment of their tuition fees under the Part-time Fee Grant (PTFG) scheme.
Part-time support is only available to students who are registered as ‘part-time’ by their college or university and studying on a course at a level suitable for PTFG support. For a fuller explanation of who is funded through this scheme please see section 2.1 (Which students receive support) and additional information in the associated annexes.
References to supported students in this chapter mean part-time students funded through the PTFG scheme.
4.1 Key findings
16,575 supported students
In 2015-16 there were 16,575 students receiving support through the PTFG scheme, a 6.4% increase compared to 15,585 in 2014-15
£12.8 million total support package
The total value of the support package was £12.8 million in 2015-16, at an average of £780 per student (£730 in 2014-15)
4.2 Support provided to students
As Table 4.1 shows, the number of students getting PTFG support from SAAS more than doubled from 7,535 in 2012-13 to 14,870 in 2013-14. This was due to a change in arrangements which saw a separate fee waiver scheme funded by the Scottish Funding Council brought together with the part-time fee grant from SAAS – see the section on PTFG scheme changes in Annex 1 (Changes to student funding policy) for more information.
In 2015-16, there were 16,575 students provided PTFG support (6.4% increase from 2014-15). The total amount of support provided was £12.8 million, with an average of £780 per student.
31 From academic session 2012-13 SAAS no longer support part-time PGDE courses, unless they are on a 2 year
PGDE course
Higher Education Student Support in Scotland 2015-16
27
Table 4.1: Part-time students receiving tuition fee support
Type: Part-time | Session: 2008-09 to 2015-16
Around seven-in-ten (70.6%) of part-time students supported by SAAS are female (11,710) compared to 29% male (4,805) (Table 4.2). There were also a further 85 students supported who did not disclose their gender.
Whilst there are more female part-time students being supported by SAAS, there is little difference in the age profile variation within each gender. Around four-fifths of all part-time students (79.4%) are aged 25 and over, though proportionally less males are from the older group (74.9%) compared to females (81.3%).
Table 4.2: Part-time students receiving tuition fee support by age and gender
Type: Part-time | Session: 2008-09 to 2015-16
2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16
Number of students 2,275 5,055 7,230 7,710 7,535 14,870 15,585 16,575
Amount of support (£ million) 1.1 2.5 3.6 3.4 3.3 10.4 11.4 12.8
Average per student (£) 500 490 490 450 440 700 730 780
2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16
Total 2,270 5,055 7,230 7,700 7,375 14,870 15,585 16,575
17 and under 15 45 10 120 105 100 100 95
18 to 20 165 325 395 745 705 925 875 890
21 to 24 335 825 1,020 1,110 1,060 1,980 2,090 2,425
25 and over 1,755 3,865 5,800 5,725 5,505 11,865 12,520 13,160
Female 1,715 3,725 5,085 5,550 5,350 10,215 10,860 11,710
17 and under 5 15 5 70 50 50 45 35
18 to 20 105 175 135 310 315 485 500 500
21 to 24 235 580 620 765 705 1,310 1,345 1,635
25 and over 1,370 2,955 4,325 4,400 4,280 8,375 8,965 9,515
Male 555 1,330 2,140 2,155 2,025 4,570 4,640 4,805
17 and under 5 30 * 50 60 50 55 60
18 to 20 60 150 260 435 390 435 370 385
21 to 24 100 245 405 345 355 660 730 785
25 and over 385 910 1,475 1,325 1,225 3,425 3,495 3,600
Missing ~ ~ ~ ~ 160 85 85 55
5. Nursing and Midwifery students
28
5. Nursing and Midwifery students
SAAS administers the Nursing and Midwifery Student Bursary (NMSB) scheme on behalf of the Scottish Government Health and Social Care Directorate. This includes students undertaking courses in pre-registration nursing and midwifery leading to the award of a degree or diploma in Higher Education. For a fuller explanation of who is funded through this scheme please see section 2.1 (Which students receive support) and additional information in the associated annexes.
Eligibility for support depends on two criteria – that the student is studying on an eligible course and that they meet residence requirements. The bursary and grant support is made up of a non-income assessed bursary (typically £6,578) and additional allowances based on the circumstances of the student. These include support such as a Dependent’s Allowance or Childcare Allowance.
References to supported students in this chapter mean those funded through the NMSB scheme.
5.1 Key findings
8,790 supported students
In 2015-16 there were 8,790 students receiving support through the NMSB scheme, compared to 8,425 in 2014-15
£61.1 million total support package
The total value of the support package was £61.1 million in 2015-16, at an average of £6,950 per student (a slight decrease from £6,970 in 2014-15).
88% of support from main bursary
Around 88% of financial support is provided through the non-income assessed bursary, awarded to 8,785 supported students (average of £6,140 per student)
Less than one in ten are male
Less than one in ten supported students are male (750) compared to 91.5% females (8,040): over half of males (56%) are aged 25 and over
Higher Education Student Support in Scotland 2015-16
29
5.2 Support provided to students
There were 8,790 students who received financial support from SAAS in the 2015-16 academic session (Table 5.1). On average these students received around £6,950 each, a slight decrease from £6,970 in 2014-15.
Table 5.1: Nursing and Midwifery support by year
Type: Nursing and Midwifery | Session: 2009-10 to 2015-1632
In the Higher Education Student Support in Scotland 2014-15 statistical publication, there was a reported 8,415 students who had received financial support for the 2014-15 session. These have been finalised as being 8,425 in this report. Similarly, further support will be provided through to around December 2016 for students who started their studies as part of the January 2016 intake. These students have received around £61.1 million of support.
Figure 5.1 shows that the vast majority of the financial support provided to students through the NMSB scheme is through the non-income assessed main bursary – the Student Nursing Bursary (SNB). This is awarded to 8,785 students, making up 88.3% of all financial support (£53.9 million).
32 Provisional results for 2015-16: final results will be published within the 2016-17 report (provisionally
scheduled for October 2017).
2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16p
Total
Number of students 9,330 9,485 9,320 8,755 8,225 8,425 8,790
Amount (£ million) 66.7 66.9 64.9 61.2 56.6 58.7 61.1
Average per student (£) 7,150 7,050 6,970 6,990 6,880 6,970 6,950
5. Nursing and Midwifery students
30
Figure 5.1: Nursing and Midwifery support by type of bursaries and grants awarded
Type: Nursing and Midwifery | Session: 2015-16
The remaining 11.7% of financial support is provided through the additional allowances and expenses.
Just under 5% of the total support is provided through the Dependents Allowance33, with 1,080 students receiving this at an average of £2,760 per student.
Further support is provided to students with children. There were 935 students who received the Single Parents Allowance (£1.1 million of support at an average of £1,200 per student) and 810 who received the Childcare Allowance34 (£0.9 million at £1,130 per student).
Clinical placement is the part of the course that consists of supervised practice in clinical areas, for which Placement Expenses can be awarded for additional travel and reasonable accommodation costs. In 2015-16, 1,955 students have so far received Placement Expenses (£1.4 million of support at an average of £720 per student). First year students also receive Initial Expenses35 (2,910 students receiving £60 each).
33 For example, where the student has a spouse or cohabiting partner, dependent children or any younger
brothers or sister for whom they have a legal responsibility and are dependent on the students income.
34 Available to students who have children and have expenses for registered or formal childcare.
35 A £60 allowance included in the first instalment of the bursary.
Student Nurses Bursary
8,785 | £53.9M | 88.3%
Initial Expenses2,910 | £0.2M | 0.3%
Placement Expenses1,955 | £1.4M | 2.3%
Dependants Allowance1,080 | £3.0M | 4.9%
Childcare Allowance810 | £0.9M | 1.5%
Single Parents Allowance935 | £1.1M | 1.8%
Disabled Students Allowance375 | £0.5M | 0.8%
Adhoc Payments 115 | £0.1M | 0.1%
Other 11.7%
Number of students supported | Support £ million | % of total financial support
Higher Education Student Support in Scotland 2015-16
31
Figure 5.2: Nursing and Midwifery support by age and gender
Type: Nursing and Midwifery | Session: 2015-16
Figure 5.2 shows that the vast majority of supported students in 2015-16 are female – 8,040 (91.5%) female compared to 750 (8.5%) male. Comparatively there are more males are aged 25 and over (420, or 56.0% of all males), whilst females show a more equitable split across other age groups (with 36.9% being aged 25 and over). Around 95% of all NMSB students aged 20 and under are female.
8,040
750
Female Male
3.2%
34.2%
25.6%
36.9%
1.3%
21.3%
21.3%
56.0%
Females by age
Males by age
17 and under 18 to 20 21 to 24 25 and over
91.5% of supported students are female
8.5% of supported students are male
6. Discretionary and Discretionary Childcare Funds
32
6. Discretionary and Discretionary Childcare Funds
The Discretionary Fund provides financial support to students if they have difficulty entering Higher Education (HE) for financial reasons or have financial difficulties while they study. This scheme is administered by the universities and colleges in Scotland. SAAS determines the initial allocations of funds to the institutions and in turn collates returns from each institution which evidences how the funds have been used. As such, universities and colleges are responsible for deciding who they make payments to and how much is paid.
A separate Discretionary Childcare Fund is also available for students to apply for help towards the cost of registered or formal childcare costs. It should be noted though that Discretionary Funds can also be used for childcare36. In 2011-12, the Discretionary Childcare Fund for HE students studying at colleges was passed to the Scottish Funding Council for them to distribute and administer the funds for the first time. This means that SAAS does not hold information on support for college students, only those studying at university.
All analysis refer to the 2014-15 session.
6.1 Key findings
13,460 instances of Discretionary Fund support
There were 13,460 instances of assistance through the Discretionary Fund in 2014-15, providing £13.3 million of support (average of £990 per instance of support)
895 instances of Childcare Fund support
The number of instances of assistance through the Childcare Fund increased from 865 in 2012-13 to 895 in 2014-15, providing £2.8 million of support (average £3,150 per instance of support)
General living expenses £10.8 million
Discretionary Fund support was most typically provided for “general living expenses”, issued 9,860 times at an average of £1,080 each time
36 Students can receive help from both the Discretionary Fund and the Discretionary Childcare Fund in the
same year. Furthermore, as students can receive help more than once in an academic year from each fund there may be an element of double counting in the student numbers for each fund. As such, student numbers are referred to as instances of assistance. The 'Amounts issued by institutions' figures for the Higher Education Discretionary and Discretionary Childcare Funds are the amounts distributed to students by institutions and not the total amount allocated by SAAS.
Higher Education Student Support in Scotland 2015-16
33
6.2 Support provided to students
Figure 6.1 shows that there has a year-on-year decrease in the number of instances of support provided through the Discretionary Funds scheme, with a decrease of 1,230 from 2013-14 to 13,460 in 2014-15. Whilst the total amount of funds issued to institutions remained similar to 2013-14, the scheme is administered by institutions and any change in support is due to their marketing and allocation of funds available to students.
Figure 6.1: Discretionary Fund and Discretionary Childcare Fund support
Type: Discretionary | Session: 2005-06 to 2014-15
In 2014-15, universities and colleges provided 13,460 instances of assistance to students under the Discretionary Fund (Table 6.1). The total value of support was £13.3 million, with an average of £990 per instance of assistance – an increase of £90 per instance of assistance compared to the £900 average figure in 2013-14.
There was further 895 instances of assistance for the Discretionary Childcare Fund for £2.8 million of support (average £3,150). The increase in number of instances of assistance, coupled with a fixed amount of overall money, means the average support decreased from £3,260 in 2013-14 to £3,150 in 2014-15.
0
2,000
4,000
6,000
8,000
10,000
12,000
14,000
16,000
18,000
20,000
2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15
Discretionary Fund Discretionary Childcare Fund
Amounts issued (£000s) Amounts issued (£000s)Amounts issued (£000s)
Instances of assistance
6. Discretionary and Discretionary Childcare Funds
34
Table 6.1: Discretionary Fund and Discretionary Childcare Fund support
Type: Discretionary | Session: 2005-06 to 2014-15
Table 6.2 outlines how the Discretionary Fund support was used. Most typically it was provided for “general living expenses”, issued 9,860 times at an average of £1,080 for each instance of assistance (compared to £980 in 2013-14).
Although there is a separate Discretionary Childcare Fund, the Discretionary Funds can also be used for childcare purposes – in 2014-15 there 575 instances of assistances (£0.8 million at average of £1,340).
Table 6.2: Discretionary Fund support by type of support
Type: Discretionary | Session: 2013-14
Around £0.1 million was also spent by the institutions on the administration of the scheme, such as on advertising and publicity.
2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15
Discretionary Fund
Instances of assistance 13,395 13,995 15,995 16,310 18,230 18,805 17,530 17,510 14,690 13,460
Amounts issued (£ million) 10.0 11.4 11.5 12.9 12.4 13.2 14.2 13.9 13.3 13.3
Average per instance (£) 740 810 720 790 680 700 810 800 900 990
Discretionary Childcare Fund
Instances of assistance 1,770 1,545 1,480 1,360 1,315 1,505 840 1,015 865 895
Amounts issued (£ million) 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.5 3.6 4.2 2.3 2.6 2.8 2.8
Average per instance (£) 1,750 2,090 2,260 2,540 2,730 2,780 2,790 2,540 3,260 3,150
Instances of
assistance
Amounts
issued
(£ million)
Average per
assistance (£)
Total 13,460 13.3 990
Support to students 13,460 13.2 980
General living expenses 9,860 10.6 1,080
Travel 1,140 0.6 500
Childcare 575 0.8 1,340
Bursary / Scholarship 335 0.3 790
Short-term loans not repaid in the academic year 115 0.0 170
Disability diagnosis costs 1,665 0.5 300
Equipment 1,460 0.5 310
Administration of scheme ~ 0.1 ~
Higher Education Student Support in Scotland 2015-16
35
Annex 1. Changes to student funding policy
This section provides an overview of changes to undergraduate student funding policy over recent years, providing greater detail in support of the policy overview in chapter 2.
Key funding changes in recent years
Over the period covered in this publication several changes to the student support package available from SAAS have been made. The 2013-14 session saw substantial changes made to simplify the student support system as part of the Post 16 Education Reform Program37. This meant that the types and value of support students received changed substantially from 2012-13.
Diagram A1 provides a simplistic view of how student funding support has changed over recent years. This included the introduction of tuition fee loans for postgraduate students in 2012-13. In 2014-15, the maximum funding package increased to £7,500 directly through an increase of £250 to the maximum value of loan available. There was a further £125 additional bursary payment provided to eligible students in 2015-16 (see next section).
Diagram A1: Timeline of changes to student funding support
See also: Diagram A2 for further definitions
One of the main changes brought in for 2013-14 was a simplification of the income assessment element, with fixed income thresholds38 introduced with a set amount of
37 http://www.scotland.gov.uk/topics/education/post16reform
38 Below £17,000, between £17,000 and £23,999, between £24,000 and £33,999, and £34,000 and above
Only a single rate of student loan. No home/elsewhere
rate any more
Maximum funding package increased to £7,250
Fixed amounts of bursary introduced. No longer
calculated on a £ by £ basis
Non income-assessed loan increased to £4,500
SOSB replaced by ISB and YSB
Income assessment changed. Removal of parental
contribution element and fixed income thresholds
introduced
Maximum funding package increased to £7,500
Bursary increase of £125 for YSB and ISB recipients with household income under
£24,000
2013- 2014- 2015- 2016-
Annex 1. Changes to student funding policy
36
support within each band (rather than a sliding scale proportionate to the actual income value). The implications for support type is provided in the following sections.
Diagram A2: Summary of types of support available by year
Type of support200
6-07
2007-
08
2008-
09
2009-
10
2010-
11
2011-
12
2012-
13
2013-
14
2014-
15
2015-
16Comments
Bursary
Young Students’ Bursary
(YSB)
Independent Students’
Bursary (ISB)
Introduced in 2010-11 to extend bursary payments to
independent students on lower incomes.
Students’ Outside Scotland
Bursary (SOSB) From 2013-14 receive standard student support.
Scottish Government
Health Directorate Bursary
For Allied Health Profession students. From 2013-14
receive standard student support.
Supplementary Grants
Dependants’ Grant
Abolished for children in 2004-05 following
introduction of new tax credits system. Stil l paid for
adult dependants.
Lone Parents’ Grant
Disabled Students
Allowance
Vacation Grant for Care
Leavers
New tick-box question "Are you a care leaver?" added
to application in 2015/16.
Travel Expenses
Costs subsumed within the income-assessed student
loan from 2011-12 onwards. We stil l pay travel
expenses to students on a year abroad through ad-
hoc payments.
Standard Maintenance
Allowance
Lone Parents’ Childcare
Grant Paid directly by institutions from 2011-12 onwards
Other Payments
Ad-hoc payments An additional £125 was paid to certain students
receiving bursary support, paid as an ad-hoc
Adjustment payments
Tuition Fees
Tuition fees
Fee loans
Introduced in 2006-07 for Scottish students studying
outside Scotland. Postgraduate students on PSAS
scheme eligible from 2012-13 onwards.
Loan
Living cost loans Revised wording to from 'maintenance' to 'l iving cost'
Higher Education Student Support in Scotland 2015-16
37
The diagram on the previous page summarises the support available each academic year over the past decade. It should be noted that when an award is abolished, SAAS may in some cases continue to pay it to continuing students who retain their entitlement.
Bursaries and Grants
Non-repayable bursaries and grants are available to students who meet certain criteria. They do not have to pay these back and can be used for general living costs whilst they study. For 2013-14, fixed amounts of bursaries were introduced based on the students household income. Students who are considered to be independent (see Annex 2) and with a household income of less than £17,000 would be entitled to a bursary of up to £750 a year. Young, or dependent, students with a household income of less than £34,000 are entitled to a bursary of up to £1,750 a year. Those with income above the relevant income thresholds would receive no bursary. This remained the same for 2014-15 and 2015-16.
Bursaries
The Young Students’ Bursary (YSB) income thresholds were changed in 2005-06, from £10,740 to £17,000 for the maximum payment, and from £27,900 to £31,000 for the point above which YSB is no longer payable. This meant that more students were eligible for the full amount of YSB. The maximum amount of YSB available to students was also increased in 2005-06. In 2008-09 eligibility for the YSB was extended to include young students (i.e. those under 25) who have a dependent child. In addition any continuing student who received YSB as a dependent in 2007-08 would continue to do so even if they subsequently become independent because they were now living with a partner and/or have a child under three. In 2013-14 this changed so that those with a household income of less than £17,000 received up to the maximum support of £1,750, whilst those £34,000 and above were entitled to no YSB support.
Independent Students’ Bursary (ISB) was introduced in academic year 2010-11. Eligible students are generally aged 25 and over or are married, in a civil partnership, or living with a partner or their parents are no longer alive. The bursary is income-assessed, and is paid instead of part of the loan therefore reducing the amount of loan that needed to be taken out. The maximum amount paid up to 2012-13 was £1,000. In 2013-14 this changed so that only those with a household income of less than £17,000 received support, up to a maximum of £750, and those £17,000 and above are entitled to no ISB support.
It should be noted that in 2015-16 an additional £125 in bursary support (paid as an ad-hoc payment) was paid to eligible students receiving either the Young Students’ Bursary (YSB) or Independent Students’ Bursary (ISB) with a household income under £24,000.
Living cost grants
The maximum amount of the non-medical personal help allowance element of Disabled Students’ Allowance was increased from £12,420 to £20,000 in academic year 2008-09. In
Annex 1. Changes to student funding policy
38
2013-14 this was £20,520 for those studying full-time, and scaled on a pro-rata basis if studying part-time.
Students’ Outside Scotland Bursary (SOSB) was introduced in 2006-07 for new students studying outside Scotland. This replaced the Young Students Outside Scotland Bursary, for young students studying outside Scotland, and extended eligibility to mature students. From 2013-14, these students receive the standard student support (e.g. YSB).
The Dependants Grant for Children and the School Meals Grant were abolished in 2004-05, following the introduction of the then new tax credits system.
For undergraduate students, Standard Maintenance Allowance (SMA) only applied to those who entered the system before 1998-99. Postgraduate students on taught postgraduate diplomas (excluding education) who come under the PSAS scheme (Postgraduate Students’ Allowances Scheme) were eligible in 2010-11 for income assessed SMA.
Travel expenses were removed in 2011-12 session for all students with the exception of those eligible for travel costs through the Disabled Students Allowance grant and placement expenses for Allied Health Profession students. Students studying abroad were also no longer entitled to travel expenses, unless on a compulsory part of their course.
Lone Parents’ Childcare Grant was introduced 2001-02 and paid through adhoc payments in its initial year. From 2011-12 onwards, the grant is paid out by institutions, meaning that SAAS no longer hold information on Lone Parents’ Childcare Grant support.
It should also be noted that in session 2013-14 certain student were able to apply for a financial exception if their award or support had dropped due to the Post 16 Education Reform changes (covered in section 3.1). This did not extend in to 2014-15.
Tuition Fees
The majority of Scottish and EU domiciled students studying full-time on undergraduate Higher Education courses in Scotland are eligible to have their tuition fees paid by SAAS. There are though some groups of students who are funded through different arrangements.
Main tuition fee support
Students who entered their course between 2001-02 and 2005-06 could apply for fee support and could receive £1,285 which was paid directly to the institution. Those who entered in 2006-07 or later, or those returning after a break in study of a year or more, could receive £1,820 in fee support for a first degree or post graduate teaching qualification.
Between 2006-07 and 2011-12, those studying on a medicine course received £2,895 though this was subsumed in with the first degree equivalent rate of £1,820 from 2012-13 onwards.
Higher Education Student Support in Scotland 2015-16
39
The fee for a Higher National Certificate (HNC) or Higher National Diploma (HND) level course is £1,285.
Eligible part-time students on a sub-degree, degree or Professional Graduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) are entitled to payment of their tuition fees on a pro-rata basis based on the full-time equivalent fee rate.
Variations of tuition fee support
Students who are repeating years of study usually do not receive fee support, unless they use their extra year of entitlement which is available following changes to the previous study rules in 2013-14.
There is a reciprocal arrangement in place for Allied Health Profession (AHP) students. This means that AHP students studying in Scotland who are from England, Wales or Northern Ireland receive fees and a bursary from SAAS while Student Finance England, Wales or Northern Ireland will pay, as appropriate, any loan they are eligible for. Scottish domiciled AHP students studying in the rest of UK are entitled to a loan from SAAS and their fees and bursary are paid for by Student Finance England, Wales or Northern Ireland as appropriate.
SAAS are not responsible for tuition fees for students supported through the Nursing and Midwifery Bursary (NMSB) scheme, these are instead administered by the Scottish Government Health and Social Care Directorate.
Fee loans
Fee loans were first introduced in 2006-07 for new Scottish students who were studying outside of Scotland in the rest of the UK. In such cases fees are paid direct to the institution on the student’s behalf and are repaid by the student in the same way as living cost loans. From 2013-14 students studying in the rest of UK can receive a fee loan of up to £9,000, or up to £6,000 for those studying at private institutions.
Students studying on eligible postgraduate diploma courses in the UK were eligible for a tuition fee loan of up to £3,400 for full-time study, and up to £1,700 for part-time study. Prior to 2012-13, postgraduate students were eligible for fee payments which they did not have to pay back.
There are a number of exceptions and variations for provision of tuition fee and fee loan support. These include students on full year compulsory or voluntary placements for which SAAS will pay at 50% of the full-time equivalent fee rate and students on certain abroad years will have either the entire or 50% of the full-time equivalent fee rate paid.
Annex 1. Changes to student funding policy
40
Loans
Prior to 1999-00 students applied for a loan through their institution and not SAAS. From 1999-00 onwards new entrants have applied to SAAS for a loan. SAAS calculates a loan entitlement and authorises the amount that the student has requested (which may be a lesser amount than what they are entitled to). The Student Loans Company (SLC) then extends the loan.
The data on loans included in this publication relate to the level of loans authorised by SAAS. This might not match the final loan that a student draws from SLC due to a number of factors such as non-completion of course.
Student loans from 2013-14 onwards
As outlined at the start of this chapter, substantial changes were made to the student support package in 2013-14 which included an increase in the availability and value of loans made available to students. This enabled Scottish Ministers to introduce a minimum income commitment for Scottish students through increased access to student loans, focussing on improving access to living cost loans rather than loans for fees. All students, irrespective of circumstances, were eligible for a student loan of £4,500 a year (non-income assessed). For 2014-15, loan entitlement was increased by £250 across all those eligible, meaning the minimum amount available in 2014-15 was £4,750.
Over and above this, additional loan could be provided based on the students household income. Diagram A3 shows how the value of loan changes with income.
Other loan issues
In academic year 2007-08 students received their loan instalments on a monthly basis for the first time. Prior to this, payments were made at the start of each term.
Loans were available to some part-time students on low incomes or certain benefits who were studying at least 50 per cent of a full-time course from 2000-01 to 2007-08. From academic year 2008-09 onwards, part-time loans were no longer available. They were replaced with the ILA (Individual Learning Account) 500 scheme which provided part-time Higher Education students on low incomes or benefits with a grant of up to £500 towards the cost of their tuition fees. In 2009-10, the list of courses eligible for support through ILA500 was extended. The Part-Time Fee Grant scheme replaced the ILA500 in 2011-12.
In session 2009-10 and earlier, the additional income assessed loan was only available to young students who were entitled to the Young Students’ Bursary. From session 2010-11, it was extended to mature students on lower incomes. Single exempt students would get the full amount. In 2010-11, the maximum amount through additional means tested loan increased to £785. This was removed in 2013-14.
Higher Education Student Support in Scotland 2015-16
41
Income assessed support
In 2013-14, a number of changes were made to the student support system which included a simplification of the income assessment part of awards. This meant anyone with a household income over £34,000 would be regarded as in receipt of non-income assessed awards only. Students also have the option of not declaring their income and also applying for the non-income assessed awards.
For those with a household income below the £34,000 then there are only three income bands at which awards are assessed (see Diagram A3). The changes made it more apparent to students how much support is available and more obvious when it is not necessary for them to supply income details.
The “additional income assessed loan” awarded in previous years (to those on very low incomes, and in addition to any other income assessed award provided) is no longer provided.
In academic year 2008-09, and running up to 2012-13, the means test for student support was changed for all students to bring it into line with means testing undertaken in colleges and for other government schemes. The main implication of this change was that the income of a parent’s partner or a student’s partner would then be taken into consideration. In addition, a step-parent’s income would also be taken into consideration, even if they had not legally adopted the student. Allowable deductions from assessed income were restricted to include only maintenance payments made for other children that are in further or Higher Education. In some cases other maintenance payments would be considered as income.
Diagram A3: Support tables 2015-16
Type: Full-time | Session: 2015-16
Part-time Fee Grant scheme changes in 2013-14
Prior to 2013-14 there were two forms of part-time support: a part-time fee grant from SAAS and a fee waiver scheme which was operated by the institutions and funded by the Scottish Funding Council. The Part-time Fee Grant offered a grant of up to £500 towards the cost of tuition fees if students had an individual income of £22,000 a year or less, be
Household income Bursary Loan Bursary Loan All
£0 to £16,999 £1,750 £5,750 £750 £6,750 £7,500
£17,000 to £23,999 £1,000 £5,750 - £6,750 £6,750
£24,000 to £33,999 £500 £5,750 - £6,250 £6,250
£34,000 and above - £4,750 - £4,750 £4,750
Young students Independent students
Annex 1. Changes to student funding policy
42
studying a Higher Education course, Professional Development Award or Continuing Professional Development at levels 7-10 of the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) and complete at least 40 SCQF credits per year. They must also be studying at a Scottish Institution.
From academic year 2013-14 the separate funding streams were brought together to create a single system of part-time fee support for students attending universities and private institutions. The scheme is administered by SAAS providing a simpler more transparent system for students. By joining the funding streams, the following changes were introduced:
The income eligibility threshold for part-time study increased from £22,000 to £25,000.
Extended the range of eligible SCQF course credits to between 30 and 119. The previous range was between 40 and 90.
The funding available continued to be a tuition fee grant. However, the level of grant available is now linked to the number of credits of study. This means students can be awarded support in excess of the previous £500 limit.
The increase in the income threshold will increase the number of individuals who have the opportunity to apply for support and the change from a £500 contribution to a proportion of the full-time fee will result in fewer students having to find additional resources to fund their studies. PTFG is, though, a contribution to the fee but may result in students having to find additional resources themselves.
Higher Education Student Support in Scotland 2015-16
43
Annex 2. Glossary of terms
This glossary provides descriptions of some of the key terms and concepts used throughout the report. In particular, these should be read in conjunction with the policy guide in chapter 2 and Annex 1. It should be noted that some terms may be interchangeable – e.g. awards typically refers to all support provided to students, whilst on other occasions it may refer to particular types of support such as the non-repayable bursaries and grants.
Bursaries and grants
Bursaries and grants
Refers to all non-repayable bursaries and living cost grants. This means that the students do not have repay any of this support.
The amount of bursary a student can apply for depends on their household income, except Disabled Students Allowance which is non means tested.
Young students, e.g. a school leaver, with a household income of less than £34,000 are entitled to a bursary of up to £1,750 a year.
Independent students, e.g. those aged 25 or over or those who have a child dependant on them before the start of their course, with a household income of less than £17,000 are entitled to a bursary of up to £750 a year.
Travel expenses From 2011-12 onwards, the main travel expenses scheme was discontinued, with the exception of travel payments through Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA), Allied Health Profession (AHP) placement expenses and students on a compulsory year abroad. Travel costs for students supported through the Nursing and Midwifery Bursary (NMSB) scheme are provided through Placement Expenses.
Prior to 2011-12, these travel payments were included in the total travel expenses figures. From 2011-12 onwards, the DSA travel expenses are included in the DSA totals and AHP and study abroad travel expenses in adhoc payments.
Ad-hoc payments Includes non-repayable payments that are paid out to very small numbers of students, such as the Vacation Grant for Care Leavers.
Annex 2. Glossary
44
Disabled students
DSA Disabled Students Allowance (DSA) is available to students who have a disability or learning difficulty. It is a non-income assessed allowance to cover any extra costs or expenses related to the students disability.
DSA travel costs From 2011-12 onwards, travel costs paid to DSA students are included in DSA payments.
Disability types The administrative data collected on disability types changed in 2011-12, meaning that the disability types that are reported are not comparable with previous years. For full historical data on disability types, please see the ‘Higher Education Student Support in Scotland 2010-11’ publication39.
Domicile
Domicile Domicile is considered to be the country that a person is assessed as being their permanent home. SAAS most typically supports student who are ordinarily resident in Scotland, as well as students from the rest of the European Union (EU) who study in Scotland.
Scottish domiciled students support in Scotland
Scottish domiciled students are eligible for payment of tuition fees, a loan for living costs and, depending on individual circumstances, bursaries and living cost grants.
Scottish domiciled students studying outwith Scotland
Scottish domiciled students studying outwith Scotland are eligible for fee loan support, whereas those studying in Scotland are eligible for non-repayable fees from SAAS.
EU domiciled students support
EU national students from outside the UK who have come to Scotland to study are generally eligible for fees only support. EU nationals living in the UK may get additional living cost support.
39 http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2011/10/25133537
Higher Education Student Support in Scotland 2015-16
45
Income
Income assessed support
The level of income assessed support payable to students is dependent on the unearned income of the student, and the household income in the permanent home of the student. Income assessed support was substantially amended in 2013-14, discussed in Annex 1.
Income not declared / required
Includes those who have not declared income because they have applied for non-income assessed support only and those whose income is so low that they receive the full support package (though the income is assessed as if on low household income).
Residual income The residual household income is calculated as the total income from all sources (including earned income from employment, income from property/pensions/benefits, interest from savings, etc.) less allowable deductions (allowances for dependants and for some maintenance payments). Residual income can then be used as the basis of income assessment for support.
Exempt from parental contribution
Was used as part of assessments prior to the 2013-14 session Comprises all those who had no benefactor to assess for a contribution to their support. Such students may have been entitled to maximum loan amounts and supplementary grants, as their personal income was also taken into account.
Institution type
University A university is an institution of Higher Education and research which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects and provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education.
College A college is an institution which typically awards Further Education qualifications such as a Higher National Certificate (HNC) and may also offer other vocational and trade qualifications.
‘Other institution’ types
Private colleges and training providers.
Annex 2. Glossary
46
Institution The term institution may be used in this publication to refer to universities and colleges.
Loans
Loan authorisations
Used to refer to the total amount of loan requested by students, which would then be authorised and approved by SAAS. This may be different to entitlement (what a student is entitled to based on their circumstances) due to a number of factors such as non-completion of course and some students may request a loan of less money than they are entitled to. SAAS carries out the authorisation of loans that students have requested and the Student Loans Company (SLC) pay the loan to students.
Loan take-up and repayment
Student loan entitlement is calculated by SAAS but the SLC extends the loan and collects repayments. SAAS hold information on entitlement and amounts requested and SLC hold information on amounts actually paid.
Entitlement to loans may be higher or lower than amounts actually paid. For example, students may request less money than they are entitled to, so entitlement would be higher than amount paid.
Entitlement can also be lower than the amount paid in some cases, because of students who receive a loan payment from SLC then do not attend their course, thus losing their student loan entitlement.
Non-Income Assessed Loan
Refers to the total number of students receiving the part of the loan where household income is irrelevant. This will include those who have declared their income, and those who want the loan but did not declare the income, as it may be too high. For 2014-15 this is considered to be those entitled to the minimum £4,750 loan.
Income-Assessed Loan
Includes those who have declared household income and the income is low enough to ensure they get some or all of the income-assessed loan. Students in this category also get the non-income assessed loan. For 2014-15 this is considered to be those entitled to more than the minimum £4,750 loan.
Higher Education Student Support in Scotland 2015-16
47
Loan rates The amount of loan a student can apply for depends on their household income. A loan is available to all students of up £4,750 regardless of household income (comparable to the non-income assessed loan used in previous years). The amount of loan increases for those with a lower household income (comparable to the income-assessed loan used in previous years). The student can choose how much of this loan they want to take.
Young students with a household income less than £34,000 are entitled to a loan of £5,750. Those with income of £34,000 and above are entitled to a loan of £4,750.
Independent students with a household income less than £24,000 are entitled to a loan of £6,750. Those with income between £24,000 and £33,999 are entitled to a loan of £6,250. Those with household income of £34,000 and above are entitled to a loan of £4,750.
Additional Income-Assessed Loan
Refers to a small extra loan available to students on very low incomes, which was paid prior to 2013-14. This was paid in addition to the income-assessed loan and the non-income-assessed loan so students in this category are also included in these additional categories.
Nursing students
NMSB Students studying for a nursing or midwifery pre-registration diploma or degree are supported by the Scottish Government Heath and Social Care Directorate’s Nursing and Midwifery Student Bursary (NMSB) scheme when they study in Scotland.
Data on payments made to NMSB students for academic session 2014-15 is not yet complete. This is because there are two intakes for students in the year, with those starting around January 2015 not yet through a full year of support. The most recent available data for a fully completed session is 2013-14, though we have included provisional estimates for 2014-15 also.
NMSB support All eligible students get a non-means tested bursary of £6,578 in 2014-15, other than those taking the four year honours degree where they would receive only 75% of that bursary for year four. Additional support is available through other allowances and expenses.
Annex 2. Glossary
48
Qualification level
First Degree Students on courses leading to a first degree or equivalent, including ordinary and honorary degrees.
Other Undergraduate
Students on courses classified as Higher Education but not classified as postgraduate or first degree, such as Higher National Certificates (HNCs) and Higher National Diplomas (HNDs).
Previously covered students at Adult Education colleges who were funded under the Adult Education Allowances Scheme up to and including 2008-09. The scheme was discontinued from academic year 2009-10 onwards.
Postgraduate Students attending courses where typically a first degree qualification is an entry requirement. This includes students doing research or on a course leading to a higher degree, postgraduate diploma or equivalent (including Professional Graduate Diploma in Education [PGDE] students).
In 2012-13, the Postgraduate Students’ Allowances Scheme (PSAS) was changed from a tuition fee payment to a fee loan which students are expected to pay back.
Comparability with other statistical sources
The above classification has been used in this publication to define the level of study of students receiving support. This classification is consistent with other Scottish Government National Statistics publications on Higher Education.
Exceptions to classifications
A small number of the qualification types supported by SAAS do not obviously fall into postgraduate/first degree/other undergraduate levels. For the purposes of this publication these have been coded at first degree level with the exception of those on Adult Education courses at residential colleges who have been included in ‘other undergraduate courses’. This only affected around 30-40 students in each academic year until 2008-09. From 2009-10 onwards, these students have been supported by the Scottish Funding Council (SFC).
Higher Education Student Support in Scotland 2015-16
49
Postgraduate funding scheme
Although certain students are classed as undertaking postgraduate level study, they are funded through the undergraduate support stream. These mainly include Professional Graduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) students. In Table A7 (which shows supported students by domicile and level of study) such students are counted under the ‘postgraduate’ category.
Spatial disaggregations
Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation
The Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD)40 is the Scottish Government's official tool for identifying those places in Scotland suffering from deprivation. It incorporates several different aspects of deprivation, combining them into a single index.
For this report, the SIMD 2012 classification was used though the updated SIMD 2016 classification will be used for future publications. It divides Scotland into 6,505 small areas, called datazones, each containing around 350 households. The Index provides a relative ranking for each datazone, from 1 (most deprived) to 6,505 (least deprived).
Analysis within this report is based on quintiles, which split the ranks in to five equal sized groups, such as the 20% most deprived areas in Scotland. Analysis is based on those students where the provided home address is a valid Scottish postcode.
Home address is that provided by the student and may not necessarily reflect where there permanent residence is - for example, they may declare their term-time address as being the home address. As such the analysis may not reflect the actual residence circumstances of the students.
40 http://simd.scot
Annex 2. Glossary
50
Student type
Independent Independent students are those aged 25 and over, and those under the age of 25 who: have no living parents; have supported themselves from earnings for any three years before the first day of the first academic year of their course; have been permanently estranged from their parents for at least one year before the start of their course; have a child dependent on them; or, are married, in a Civil Partnership or living with a partner who is not a student.
Young Young, or dependent, students are those under the age of 25 who do not meet any of the criteria to be classed as independent.
Tuition Fees
Tuition fees Tuition fees provide a means of paying for tuition. These are provided as either paid for “tuition fees” or through the provision of a “fee loan”. Analysis in this report, unless otherwise stated, refers to the tuition fees and fee loans combined.
Fee rates The level of tuition fees SAAS pays depends on the session in which the student first started their continuous programme of education. For those starting from 2012-13 onwards, the most typical fee rates were £1,285 for those below degree level and £1,820 for first degree or PGDE courses (including medicine)
Medicine students are eligible for tuition fees up to £9,000 from their fifth year of study, including those studying in the rest of the UK. Allied Health Profession students studying in Scotland were also eligible to have their fees paid (up to a maximum of £9,000).
Full fees Refer to the normal public fee rates. In 2014-15, for students starting their courses in 2006-07 or after the rates were £1,285 for sub-degrees, £1,820 for first degree and PGDE or PGDipCE courses, and £3,400 for postgraduate students studying under the PSAS scheme.
Half fees Paid to students on work placements or those on years abroad where they attend their home institution for less than 10 weeks.
Higher Education Student Support in Scotland 2015-16
51
Other fees Refer to a few private institutions that get a slightly different rate from the public fee rate (usually theology-related). Also takes account of the income assessed fees i.e. cases where SAAS pay some of the normal public fee rate and the student pays the rest.
In addition, there was a historic arrangement where students who had a break of study of a year or more and whose college or university was charging a fee rate higher as a result of changes in 2006-07 could have the difference paid by SAAS so they were not penalised by the higher rates, this is known as the fee differential. For all new students in session 2011-12, except medicine students, and for new medicine students in session 2012-13, SAAS no longer pay this fee amount. This is because the higher fee has been around long enough not to make the exceptional fee payment relevant anymore.
Fee loans Fee loans were introduced for eligible students who started their course in academic year 2006-07 and were studying outside Scotland in the rest of the UK. Some changes were made to fee and fee loan rates in 2012-13.
Undergraduate students studying in the rest of UK were eligible for a tuition fee loan of up to £9,000 for publicly funded institutions, or up to £6,000 for those at private institutions.
Students studying on eligible postgraduate diploma courses in the UK were eligible for a tuition fee loan of up to £3,400 for full-time study, or £1,700 for part-time study.
Annex 3. Methodological notes
52
Annex 3. Methodological notes
Data sources and coverage
The information contained in this report is principally based on a data extract taken from the Student Entitlement Processing System (StEPS). This is a web based system at the front-end and is used by SAAS to process student applications. The web interface and back-end database stores all information relating to applications for student funding, is used to check individuals eligibility for the various elements of funding support and, if they are eligible, the level of support they will receive. It also tracks the payments that are made to students.
StEPS is a live system and reflects the most up-to-date information for each student. Separate records are held for each student within each academic session, though change of circumstances may be applied throughout the year (and in subsequent years if additional evidence is provided). This means that students may have been given an award at the start of session though due to a change, such as a student withdrawing, their award may change. The extract used in this report is based on the status of all applications for the 2015-16 session (or 2014-15 for some schemes) as at October 2016.
A separate system called GRASS was used up to the 2010-11 session.
Students who can apply to SAAS and receive support are Scottish domiciled Higher Education students studying throughout the United Kingdom (UK), and some outwith the UK, as well as European Union (EU) students studying in Higher Education in Scotland. Students studying in Further Education are out of scope. Similarly, there may be students studying in Higher Education in Scotland who do not seek financial support from SAAS and they would also be out of scope. See Annex 2 (Glossary of terms) for further definitions.
Data quality
The SAAS Operations directorate is responsible for quality assurance checks on caseworker activity and to identify trends from compliance activity requiring training and business change or improvements.
The SAAS Corporate Services team provide IT system support and help in resolving data issues for caseworkers and the business more generally. They are also responsible for producing the regular statistical extracts which inform statistical reports such as this. Various validation checks are built in to the extract system to perform basic data integrity checks.
Following that, the SAAS Statistician is responsible for the final Quality Assurance of the statistical extracts.
Higher Education Student Support in Scotland 2015-16
53
SAAS undertake a range of quality assurance checks on the data, including sense checks against published data, comparisons against queries of the live StEPS database and other basic quality assurance checks. Comparisons are made against management information reports produced internally for SAAS, mainly the Finance reports and weekly state of play reports looking at volumes of applications received and of those how many have been processed. Comparative checks are also made against other sources such as the Student Loans Company data on living cost loan payment information.
Data confidentiality
Principle 5 of the Code of Practice for Official Statistics41 requires that private information about individual persons compiled in the production of official statistics is confidential, and should be used for statistical purposes only. Further to this, principle 8 states that statistics should be made available in as much detail as is reliable and practicable, subject to legal and confidentiality constraints.
SAAS consider that it should not be possible to identify an individual or obtain new information about them from published statistics, and maintain confidentiality by:
protecting the security of our data holdings;
employing statistical disclosure control methods to protect unsafe data before releasing it into the public domain;
having detailed data access and data sharing procedures in place.
Whilst maintaining our obligation to protect confidentiality, we make statistics available in as much detail as is reliable and practicable. Therefore when protecting data, we endeavour to strike an appropriate balance between maintaining confidentiality and maximising data utility.
For the purposes of this publication, this includes rounding student numbers to the nearest 5, total cash amount are presented in millions (with underlying tables in Excel document rounded to thousands) and average cash amounts are rounded to the nearest £10.
Timeliness of data
The extract used in this report is based on the status of all applications for the 2015-16 academic session (or 2014-15 for some schemes where noted). This is generally considered to be for courses starting between 1st August 2015 and 31st July 2016.
41 http://www.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/assessment/code-of-practice
Annex 3. Methodological notes
54
The data extracts are as at October 2016.
It should be noted that the funding students were entitled to for the 2015-16 session may continue to be paid after the session has ended. This principally relates to those receiving Disabled Students Allowance (DSA) support. DSA payments are demand led and determined by when students submit claims, as opposed to other forms of support provided by SAAS which are typically paid out via staged payments throughout the session of study. There may also be circumstances in which a student award is reassessed when additional evidence becomes available, which may change their original entitlement.
Whilst some additional payments may yet be made for 2015-16 these will be relatively small amounts in comparison to the overall student support values. As such, the analysis contained in this report is considered final for the 2015-16 session for the following schemes: Full-time students (chapter 3); and, Part-time students (chapter 4). There are no planned revisions for the analysis of these schemes.
The Nursing and Midwifery students (chapter 5) analysis presented in this report includes the first release of final 2014-15 session outcomes. This scheme includes two intakes of students – around September (in line with the normal student entry dates) and January of the following year. This will have been to help stagger the intake of students so they can go out, for example, on placements at different times of the years. The January intake does not include new starts, so only includes continuing students from previous years now. As such, the January 2016 intake for the 2015-16 session will typically be funded through to December 2016. The 2015-16 session analysis in this report for the NMSB scheme is provisional analysis only though it is not expected that final figures would change substantially, and is subject to revision – these will most likely be included in the comparable 2016-17 session publication when available and will be clearly marked as such42.
Analysis for the Discretionary and Discretionary Childcare Funds (chapter 6) is 2014-15 only.
The analysis presented in Annex 5 (Early analysis of 2016-17 applications) are based on a snapshot and are indicative of the number of applications received by 1st September 2016 only. These will not be revised, and instead be superseded by final 2016-17 results when available (see footnote 42).
All analysis may be subject to unscheduled revisions, such as corrections to errors identified in the analysis. These will be dealt with proportionate to the effect of the error, and may include revising a publication immediately or updating small errors in the next release.
42 Provisionally scheduled for release in October 2016.
Higher Education Student Support in Scotland 2015-16
55
Comparability with other sources
Student finance across the rest of the UK (outside Scotland) is provided through Student Finance England43, Student Finance Wales44 and Student Finance Northern Ireland45. The Student Loans Company (SLC)46 works in collaboration with these organisations, as well as SAAS, to provide student support in the UK. The SLC compile and publish statistics on student finance for England, Wales and Northern Ireland47.
The actual take-up of loans is administered by the SLC. Applications for loans are assessed by SAAS which determines the amount the student is entitled to and subsequently what is authorised for payment. The most recent estimates on take-up are published by the SLC in the ‘Student Loans for Higher Education in Scotland: Financial year 2015-16’ publication48.
The Scottish Government publish diverse information on Lifelong Learning statistics covering post-compulsory education in Scotland - mainly Higher and Further Education, student support and Education Maintenance Allowances49.
The Scottish Funding Council (SFC) helps fund teaching and research in Scottish institutions50. The SFC publish statistical information on matters such as the size, composition, income and expenditure of funded Higher Education universities and colleges – though with more focus on Further Education in their routine work.
Some Higher Education information for Scotland is also available via the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) which produces statistical information on behalf of the four UK Higher Education funding bodies51.
43 https://www.gov.uk/browse/education/student-finance
44 http://www.studentfinancewales.co.uk/
45 http://www.studentfinanceni.co.uk
46 http://www.slc.co.uk/
47 http://www.slc.co.uk/official-statistics/financial-support-awarded.aspx
48 http://www.slc.co.uk/official-statistics/student-loans-debt-and-repayment/scotland.aspx
49 http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Lifelong-learning/
50 http://www.sfc.ac.uk/PublicationsStatistics/statistics/statistics.aspx
51 https://www.hesa.ac.uk
Annex 3. Methodological notes
56
Reporting and presentation of statistics
Award definitions
“Bursaries and grants” refers to all non-repayable bursaries and living cost grants that are paid out by SAAS.
“Fees” includes all tuition fees and fee loans.
The amount authorised in ”loans” is assessed by SAAS though the final loan taken up is paid by the Student Loans Company (SLC). SAAS figures relate to authorisations rather than uptake which may be lower.
Reporting conventions
All years relate to academic sessions.
Total student numbers count each student once, though each student may be entitled to more than one award. For this reason, total numbers of students may be lower than the sum of the constituent parts
Student numbers are rounded to the nearest 5 (e.g. 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 all round to 10).
Cash amounts are rounded and quoted in millions (£ million).
“Average per student” amounts are rounded to nearest £10 and calculated from rounded values.
Cash amounts may not equal the sum of their constituent parts due to rounding.
Percentages in tables are calculated from rounded values.
"Real terms" totals are calculated by applying GDP deflators to the total amount of support in cash terms. This is a measure of government expenditure in 2015-16 prices52.
Other
The table caption refers to the “type” of students analysis refers to (e.g. full-time) under which students are funded. For simplicity, students studying full-time are those funded via the Undergraduate or PSAS schemes, part-time through the PTFG scheme, and nursing and midwifery through NMSB scheme.
52 GDP deflators at market prices, and money GDP: June 2016 (Quarterly National Accounts)
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/gdp-deflators-at-market-prices-and-money-gdp-june-2016-quarterly-national-accounts
Higher Education Student Support in Scotland 2015-16
57
Annex 4. Data Tables – Full-time students
The following data tables provide detailed analysis for full-time students supported through the main Undergraduate and Postgraduate Students’ Allowances Scheme (PSAS) schemes, which includes students studying full-time in relevant undergraduate and postgraduate courses.
Typically the analysis includes a ten year time series of all key analysis. The analysis in these tables is also typically used as the basis for the figures and commentary presented in ‘’ (chapter 3).
Please refer to reporting conventions in Annex 3 as well as the description of policy issues throughout the report to aide understanding.
All tables and figures included in this publication are available as an Excel workbook which can be downloaded from the SAAS website53.
53 http://www.saas.gov.uk/_forms/statistics_1516.xls
Annex 4. Data Tables
58
Table A1: Full-time students type of support provided
Type: Full-time | Session: 2006-07 to 2015-16
2006
-07
2007
-08
2008
-09
2009
-10
2010
-11
2011
-12
2012
-13
2013
-14
2014
-15
2015
-16
Tota
l Su
pp
ort
Num
ber
of s
tude
nts
121,
990
122,
505
124,
845
130,
680
133,
175
133,
990
135,
375
137,
270
139,
370
141,
000
Am
ount
(£
mill
ion)
440.
845
8.6
482.
652
2.4
571.
957
0.3
584.
373
4.7
781.
380
5.8
Ave
rage
per
stu
dent
3,61
03,
740
3,87
04,
000
4,29
04,
260
4,32
05,
350
5,61
05,
720
Tota
l Su
pp
ort
(ex
clu
din
g Fe
es)
Num
ber
of s
tude
nts
94,0
0092
,505
91,6
9094
,545
95,8
5093
,910
93,9
1097
,515
99,9
7510
2,25
0
Am
ount
(£
mill
ion)
288.
728
9.1
291.
930
8.7
351.
034
7.3
354.
949
4.5
532.
555
2.4
Ave
rage
per
stu
dent
3,07
03,
130
3,18
03,
260
3,66
03,
700
3,78
05,
070
5,33
05,
400
Bu
rsar
ies
and
gra
nts
Num
ber
of s
tude
nts
58,5
6558
,230
57,5
9060
,870
68,9
6055
,685
54,1
3053
,435
52,3
1549
,815
Am
ount
(£
mill
ion)
102.
910
4.8
105.
011
1.5
127.
710
3.4
100.
664
.963
.666
.1
Ave
rage
per
stu
dent
1,76
01,
800
1,82
01,
830
1,85
01,
860
1,86
01,
210
1,22
01,
330
Fees Num
ber
of s
tude
nts
112,
610
114,
100
118,
055
124,
340
126,
630
125,
790
127,
090
130,
990
133,
460
134,
760
Am
ount
(£
mill
ion)
152.
116
9.5
190.
621
3.7
220.
822
3.0
229.
524
0.7
249.
025
4.0
Ave
rage
per
stu
dent
1,35
01,
490
1,61
01,
720
1,74
01,
770
1,81
01,
840
1,87
01,
890
Loan
s
Num
ber
of s
tude
nts
80,4
5078
,175
77,1
7079
,075
79,3
9580
,875
81,6
4085
,655
88,9
8592
,005
Am
ount
(£
mill
ion)
185.
818
4.3
187.
019
7.2
223.
324
3.9
254.
342
9.6
468.
848
6.3
Ave
rage
per
stu
dent
2,31
02,
360
2,42
02,
490
2,81
03,
020
3,11
05,
020
5,27
05,
290
Tota
l su
pp
ort
, rea
l ter
ms
2015
-16
pri
ces
Am
ount
(£
mill
ion)
512.
152
0.1
532.
856
8.9
611.
660
1.6
603.
774
6.8
781.
980
5.8
Ave
rage
per
stu
dent
5,45
05,
620
5,81
06,
020
6,38
06,
410
6,43
07,
660
7,82
07,
880
Higher Education Student Support in Scotland 2015-16
59
Table A2: Full-time students domicile of student
Type: Full-time | Session: 2006-07 to 2015-16
2006
-07
2007
-08
2008
-09
2009
-10
2010
-11
2011
-12
2012
-13
2013
-14
2014
-15
2015
-16
Tota
l Su
pp
ort
Num
ber
of s
tude
nts
121,
990
122,
505
124,
845
130,
680
133,
175
133,
990
135,
375
137,
270
139,
370
141,
000
Am
ount
(£
mill
ion)
440.
845
8.6
482.
652
2.4
571.
957
0.3
584.
373
4.7
781.
380
5.8
Ave
rage
per
stu
den
t (£
)3,
610
3,74
03,
870
4,00
04,
290
4,26
04,
320
5,35
05,
610
5,72
0
Sco
ttis
h D
om
icile
s
Num
ber
of s
tude
nts
114,
610
113,
825
115,
300
119,
660
121,
855
122,
115
121,
990
123,
725
124,
930
126,
290
Am
ount
(£
mill
ion)
429.
744
4.2
465.
950
2.2
550.
854
8.0
559.
570
9.1
754.
177
7.8
Ave
rage
per
stu
den
t (£
)3,
750
3,90
04,
040
4,20
04,
520
4,49
04,
590
5,73
06,
040
6,16
0
EU D
om
icile
s
Num
ber
of s
tude
nts
7,38
58,
680
9,54
511
,020
11,3
2011
,870
13,3
8513
,550
14,4
4014
,705
Am
ount
(£
mill
ion)
11.2
14.4
16.7
20.2
21.1
22.4
24.9
25.6
27.1
28.0
Ave
rage
per
stu
den
t (£
)1,
510
1,66
01,
750
1,83
01,
860
1,88
01,
860
1,89
01,
880
1,90
0
Annex 4. Data Tables
60
Table A3: Full-time students location of study by institution type
Type: Full-time | Session: 2006-07 to 2015-16
Num
ber
of s
tude
nts
2006
-07
2007
-08
2008
-09
2009
-10
2010
-11
2011
-12
2012
-13
2013
-14
2014
-15
2015
-16
Tota
l12
1,99
012
2,50
512
4,84
513
0,68
013
3,17
513
3,99
013
5,37
513
7,27
013
9,37
014
1,00
0
Uni
vers
itie
s96
,830
97,3
3599
,140
102,
715
103,
475
103,
410
104,
910
106,
460
108,
095
109,
810
Col
lege
s24
,940
24,9
6025
,495
27,7
3529
,440
30,3
0030
,105
30,4
1530
,860
30,7
30
Oth
er22
021
020
523
526
028
036
039
541
545
5
In S
cotl
and
117,
220
117,
880
120,
345
126,
465
129,
015
129,
925
131,
520
133,
365
135,
550
137,
130
Uni
vers
itie
s92
,370
92,9
9594
,935
98,8
0099
,625
99,6
3010
1,32
010
2,81
510
4,55
010
6,22
5
Col
lege
s24
,715
24,7
6025
,270
27,5
0529
,205
30,0
8529
,930
30,2
4030
,670
30,5
45
Oth
er14
012
514
016
018
520
527
030
733
036
0
Ou
twit
h S
cotl
and
4,77
04,
625
4,49
54,
215
4,16
04,
065
3,85
53,
905
3,82
03,
870
Uni
vers
itie
s4,
460
4,34
04,
205
3,91
53,
850
3,77
53,
590
3,64
53,
545
3,59
0
Col
lege
s22
520
022
523
024
021
517
517
519
018
5
Oth
er80
8565
7575
7590
8585
95
Higher Education Student Support in Scotland 2015-16
61
Table A4: Full-time students institution location and type by support type provided
Type: Full-time | Session: 2015-16
Stu
den
ts
in R
ecei
pt
Tota
l
Am
ou
nt
Pai
d
(£ m
illio
n)
Stu
den
ts
in R
ecei
pt
Tota
l
Am
ou
nt
Pai
d
(£ m
illio
n)
Stu
den
ts
in R
ecei
pt
Tota
l
Am
ou
nt
Pai
d
(£ m
illio
n)
Stu
den
ts
Enti
tled
Tota
l
Allo
cati
on
(£ m
illio
n)
Tota
l14
1,00
080
5.8
49,8
1566
.113
4,76
025
4.0
92,0
0548
6.3
Uni
vers
itie
s10
9,81
062
6.6
33,4
1544
.510
6,19
521
5.7
70,9
6536
6.8
Col
lege
s30
,730
176.
316
,230
21.4
28,1
7037
.520
,675
117.
6
Oth
er in
stit
itut
ion
455
3.0
175
0.2
395
0.8
365
1.9
Sco
tlan
d13
7,13
075
9.2
48,5
9064
.413
1,35
522
6.4
88,6
8046
9.0
Uni
vers
itie
s10
6,22
558
3.0
32,3
9042
.910
3,00
018
9.6
67,9
0035
0.9
Col
lege
s30
,545
174.
116
,160
21.3
28,0
2036
.320
,505
116.
7
Oth
er in
stit
utio
n36
02.
114
00.
233
00.
427
51.
5
Ou
twit
h S
cotl
and
3,87
046
.61,
225
1.8
3,41
027
.73,
325
17.2
Uni
vers
itie
s3,
590
43.5
1,12
51.
63,
195
26.1
3,07
015
.9
Col
lege
s18
52.
270
0.1
145
1.2
165
0.9
Oth
er in
stit
utio
n95
0.9
300.
0565
0.4
900.
5
Bu
rsar
ies
and
Gra
nts
Fees
Loan
sA
ny
sup
po
rt
Annex 4. Data Tables
62
Table A5: Full-time students age by gender
Type: Full-time | Session: 2006-07 to 2015-16
Num
ber
of s
tude
nts
2006
-07
2007
-08
2008
-09
2009
-10
2010
-11
2011
-12
2012
-13
2013
-14
2014
-15
2015
-16
Tota
l12
1,99
012
2,50
512
4,84
513
0,68
013
3,17
513
3,99
013
5,37
513
7,27
013
9,37
014
1,00
0
17 a
nd u
nder
11,2
8510
,995
11,6
2511
,820
10,9
8510
,795
10,5
9510
,625
10,6
6010
,365
18 t
o 20
60,3
5060
,735
61,1
8064
,480
66,9
3568
,490
70,1
9070
,315
71,0
7070
,835
21 t
o 24
30,1
3030
,510
32,0
1033
,650
34,1
8533
,900
34,6
1535
,980
37,2
9038
,930
25 a
nd o
ver
20,2
2020
,265
20,0
2520
,730
21,0
7020
,800
19,9
8020
,350
20,3
5020
,870
Fem
ale
64,7
1064
,405
65,5
4069
,365
71,0
8072
,250
73,6
6575
,150
77,2
7578
,390
17 a
nd u
nder
5,85
55,
665
5,90
56,
355
5,97
05,
805
5,81
55,
900
6,04
05,
940
18 t
o 20
31,7
7031
,845
31,9
9034
,300
36,1
2037
,455
38,6
5538
,685
39,4
5039
,440
21 t
o 24
15,3
1515
,310
16,3
3017
,210
17,5
7517
,695
18,2
7519
,205
20,1
4520
,970
25 a
nd o
ver
11,7
7011
,590
11,3
1511
,500
11,4
1511
,295
10,9
2011
,355
11,6
4012
,040
Mal
e57
,285
58,1
0059
,300
61,3
1562
,095
61,7
3561
,710
62,1
2062
,090
62,6
10
17 a
nd u
nder
5,43
55,
335
5,72
05,
465
5,01
54,
990
4,78
04,
725
4,62
54,
430
18 t
o 20
28,5
8028
,895
29,1
8530
,175
30,8
1031
,035
31,5
3031
,630
31,6
2031
,395
21 t
o 24
14,8
1515
,195
15,6
8016
,440
16,6
1016
,205
16,3
4016
,775
17,1
4017
,960
25 a
nd o
ver
8,45
58,
675
8,71
59,
230
9,66
09,
505
9,05
58,
990
8,71
08,
830
Higher Education Student Support in Scotland 2015-16
63
Table A6: Full-time students household income by type of support
Type: Full-time | Session: 2015-16
Nu
mb
er
of
Stu
den
ts
Am
ou
nt (£
mill
ion
)
Ave
rage
Am
ou
nt
(£)
Nu
mb
er
of
Stu
den
ts
Ave
rage
Am
ou
nt
(£)
Nu
mb
er
of
Stu
den
ts
Ave
rage
Am
ou
nt
(£)
Nu
mb
er
of
Stu
den
ts
Ave
rage
Am
ou
nt
(£)
All
141,
000
805.
85,
720
49,8
151,
330
134,
760
1,89
092
,005
5,29
0
Inco
me
not
decl
ared
/req
uire
d96
,205
476.
64,
950
14,2
151,
230
92,5
001,
910
56,5
705,
000
rece
ivin
g m
ax b
ursa
ry10
,055
92.3
9,18
010
,055
1,22
09,
985
1,78
09,
360
6,66
0
rece
ivin
g le
ss t
han
max
bur
sary
1,43
04.
93,
400
1,43
075
083
51,
530
380
6,61
0
rece
ivin
g no
bur
sary
84,7
1537
9.4
4,48
02,
730
1,51
081
,680
1,93
046
,830
4,65
0
Up
to £
16,9
9923
,895
188.
07,
870
21,2
451,
700
22,2
751,
770
19,1
055,
890
£17,
000
to £
23,9
998,
955
65.0
7,26
07,
070
1,16
08,
530
1,79
07,
220
5,76
0
£24,
000
to £
33,9
998,
980
60.4
6,73
07,
050
570
8,57
01,
830
7,26
55,
610
£34,
000
and
abov
e2,
965
15.8
5,33
023
592
02,
885
2,42
01,
850
4,65
0
Loan
sA
ny
Sup
po
rtB
urs
arie
s an
d G
ran
tsFe
es
Annex 4. Data Tables
64
Table A7: Full-time students qualification type and domicile of student
Type: Full-time | Session: 2006-07 to 2015-16
Num
ber
of s
tude
nts
2006
-07
2007
-08
2008
-09
2009
-10
2010
-11
2011
-12
2012
-13
2013
-14
2014
-15
2015
-16
Tota
l12
1,99
012
2,50
512
4,84
513
0,68
013
3,17
513
3,99
013
5,37
513
7,27
013
9,37
014
1,00
0
Post
grad
uate
5,07
04,
705
4,75
54,
290
3,92
53,
775
3,44
03,
640
3,59
54,
155
Firs
t D
egre
e89
,495
90,2
9592
,090
95,8
9596
,930
97,5
1099
,300
100,
055
101,
675
102,
980
Oth
er u
nder
grad
uate
27,3
9027
,475
27,9
5530
,460
32,3
2032
,705
32,6
3533
,575
34,1
0033
,865
Sco
ttis
h D
om
icile
s11
4,61
011
3,82
511
5,30
011
9,66
012
1,85
512
2,11
512
1,99
012
3,72
512
4,93
012
6,29
0
Post
grad
uate
4,64
54,
260
4,29
03,
795
3,39
03,
105
2,96
53,
180
3,08
03,
540
Firs
t D
egre
e82
,910
82,6
3583
,585
85,9
2086
,665
86,7
2086
,770
87,4
5588
,250
89,4
95
Oth
er u
nder
grad
uate
27,0
1526
,900
27,3
8529
,915
31,8
0032
,290
32,2
5533
,090
33,5
9533
,255
EU D
om
icile
s7,
385
8,68
09,
545
11,0
2011
,320
11,8
7013
,385
13,5
5014
,440
14,7
05
Post
grad
uate
420
445
465
495
535
670
475
465
515
610
Firs
t D
egre
e6,
585
7,66
08,
505
9,97
510
,265
10,7
9012
,535
12,6
0013
,425
13,4
85
Oth
er u
nder
grad
uate
375
575
570
550
520
415
380
485
505
610
Higher Education Student Support in Scotland 2015-16
65
Table A8: Full-time students receiving bursaries and grants (number of students)
Type: Full-time | Session: 2006-07 to 2015-16
2006
-07
2007
-08
2008
-09
2009
-10
2010
-11
2011
-12
2012
-13
2013
-14
2014
-15
2015
-16
All To
tal a
war
d pa
ymen
ts58
,565
58,2
3057
,590
60,8
7068
,960
55,6
8554
,130
53,4
3552
,315
49,8
15
Bu
rsar
y
Youn
g St
uden
ts B
ursa
ry34
,875
34,2
0032
,430
33,7
1534
,135
33,2
8533
,140
33,1
5032
,310
30,4
80
Youn
g St
uden
ts O
utsi
de S
cotl
and
Bur
sary
630
375
120
205
--
--
-
Inde
pen
den
t St
uden
ts B
ursa
ry-
--
-18
,255
16,7
5515
,645
17,4
0016
,985
16,1
35
Stud
ent
Out
side
Sco
tlan
d B
ursa
ry62
51,
020
1,51
51,
515
1,53
51,
450
1,37
0-
--
Scot
tish
Gov
ernm
ent
Hea
lth
Dir
ecto
rate
Bur
sary
1,94
01,
935
1,80
01,
680
1,56
01,
470
1,36
0-
--
Livi
ng
Cost
Gra
nts
Dep
enda
nts
Gra
nt37
033
530
531
531
031
028
541
542
525
0
Lone
Par
ents
Gra
nt3,
025
2,92
02,
630
2,42
02,
380
2,31
52,
290
2,34
02,
595
2,49
5
Dis
able
d S
tude
nts
Allo
wan
ce3,
385
3,62
54,
065
4,27
54,
435
4,49
54,
045
4,26
54,
270
4,35
5
Trav
el E
xpen
ses
32,9
7033
,710
35,1
5039
,795
43,1
25-
--
--
Stan
dard
Mai
nten
ance
Allo
wan
ce (
Post
grad
uate
s)92
51,
040
1,05
51,
025
35-
--
--
Stan
dard
Mai
nten
ance
Allo
wan
ce (
Und
ergr
adua
tes)
4540
4555
--
--
--
Lone
Par
ents
Chi
ldca
re G
rant
1,41
51,
375
1,28
51,
290
1,29
5-
--
--
Oth
er
Adh
oc P
aym
ents
10
570
7545
4060
060
579
565
038
,375
Adj
ustm
ent
Paym
ents
80
7075
100
110
--
--
-
Annex 4. Data Tables
66
Table A9: Full-time students receiving bursaries and grants (amount £ million)
Type: Full-time | Session: 2006-07 to 2015-16
2006
-07
2007
-08
2008
-09
2009
-10
2010
-11
2011
-12
2012
-13
2013
-14
2014
-15
2015
-16
All To
tal a
war
d pa
ymen
ts10
2.9
104.
810
5.0
111.
512
7.7
103.
410
0.6
64.9
63.6
66.1
Bu
rsar
y
Youn
g St
uden
ts B
ursa
ry66
.866
.964
.569
.170
.569
.669
.740
.639
.938
.2
Youn
g St
uden
ts O
utsi
de S
cotl
and
Bur
sary
0.3
0.2
0.1
0.0
0.0
--
--
-
Inde
pen
den
t St
uden
ts B
ursa
ry-
--
-17
.115
.514
.512
.312
.111
.5
Stud
ent
Out
side
Sco
tlan
d B
ursa
ry1.
01.
72.
62.
72.
72.
62.
5-
--
Scot
tish
Gov
ernm
ent
Hea
lth
Dir
ecto
rate
Bur
sary
3.6
3.7
3.6
3.5
3.1
3.0
2.7
--
-
Livi
ng
Cost
Gra
nts
Dep
enda
nts
Gra
nt0.
80.
70.
60.
60.
60.
60.
60.
90.
90.
6
Lone
Par
ents
Gra
nt3.
53.
43.
12.
92.
82.
82.
82.
83.
13.
0
Dis
able
d S
tude
nts
Allo
wan
ce7.
68.
18.
88.
98.
49.
07.
57.
77.
27.
7
Trav
el E
xpen
ses
14.7
15.2
16.6
18.7
20.6
--
--
-
Stan
dard
Mai
nten
ance
Allo
wan
ce (
Post
grad
uate
s)2.
93.
33.
53.
30.
1-
--
--
Stan
dard
Mai
nten
ance
Allo
wan
ce (
Und
ergr
adua
tes)
0.1
0.1
0.1
0.1
--
--
--
Lone
Par
ents
Chi
ldca
re G
rant
1.5
1.5
1.4
1.5
1.5
--
--
-
Oth
er
Adh
oc P
aym
ents
0.
10.
10.
10.
10.
10.
30.
30.
50.
45.
1
Adj
ustm
ent
Paym
ents
0.
00.
00.
00.
10.
1-
--
--
Higher Education Student Support in Scotland 2015-16
67
Table A10: Full-time students level of tuition fee support
Type: Full-time | Session: 2006-07 to 2015-16
2006
-07
2007
-08
2008
-09
2009
-10
2010
-11
2011
-12
2012
-13
2013
-14
2014
-15
2015
-16
Tota
l
Num
ber
of s
tude
nts
112,
610
114,
100
118,
055
124,
340
126,
630
125,
790
127,
090
130,
990
133,
460
134,
760
Am
ount
(£
mill
ion)
152.
116
9.5
190.
621
3.7
220.
822
3.0
229.
524
0.7
249.
025
4.0
Ave
rage
per
stu
den
t (£
)1,
350
1,49
01,
610
1,72
01,
740
1,77
01,
810
1,84
01,
870
1,89
0
Fee
Loan
s96
01,
910
2,84
03,
105
3,14
03,
300
4,84
04,
965
4,88
55,
310
Num
ber
of s
tude
nts
960
1,91
02,
840
3,10
53,
140
3,30
04,
840
4,96
54,
885
5,31
0
Am
ount
(£
mill
ion)
2.7
5.6
8.6
9.6
10.1
10.9
20.6
26.0
30.0
33.5
Ave
rage
per
stu
den
t (£
)2,
820
2,93
03,
020
3,11
03,
210
3,29
04,
260
5,24
06,
140
6,32
0
Tuit
ion
Fee
s
Num
ber
of s
tude
nts
111,
650
112,
190
115,
215
121,
235
123,
490
122,
490
122,
250
126,
025
128,
575
129,
450
Am
ount
(£
mill
ion)
149.
416
3.9
182.
120
4.1
210.
821
2.1
208.
921
4.7
219.
022
0.5
Ave
rage
per
stu
den
t (£
)1,
340
1,46
01,
580
1,68
01,
710
1,73
01,
710
1,70
01,
700
1,70
0
Full
Fees
Num
ber
of s
tude
nts
109,
575
109,
910
111,
900
117,
280
119,
265
120,
630
120,
620
124,
470
127,
080
127,
800
Am
ount
(£
mill
ion)
147.
916
2.3
179.
520
1.0
207.
221
0.2
206.
721
2.3
216.
321
7.4
Ave
rage
per
stu
dent
(£)
1,35
01,
480
1,60
01,
710
1,74
01,
740
1,71
01,
710
1,70
01,
700
Hal
f Fe
es
Num
ber
of s
tude
nts
830
820
1,04
588
01,
085
1,03
01,
000
965
810
825
Am
ount
(£
mill
ion)
0.5
0.6
1.0
0.9
1.2
1.1
1.0
1.0
0.8
0.8
Ave
rage
per
stu
dent
(£)
660
740
910
1,06
01,
060
1,05
01,
030
1,00
096
091
0
Oth
er F
ees
Num
ber
of s
tude
nts
1,24
51,
555
2,27
03,
080
3,14
583
063
559
569
083
0
Am
ount
(£
mill
ion)
1.0
1.2
1.6
2.2
2.5
0.9
1.1
1.4
1.9
2.3
Ave
rage
per
stu
dent
(£)
780
770
700
700
780
1,03
01,
760
2,41
02,
800
2,80
0
Annex 4. Data Tables
68
Table A11: Full-time students receiving living cost loan support
Type: Full-time | Session: 2006-07 to 2015-16
2006
-07
2007
-08
2008
-09
2009
-10
2010
-11
2011
-12
2012
-13
2013
-14
2014
-15
2015
-16
Tota
l
Num
ber
of s
tude
nts
80,4
5078
,175
77,1
7079
,075
79,3
9580
,875
81,6
4085
,655
88,9
8592
,005
Am
ount
(£
mill
ion)
185.
818
4.3
187.
019
7.2
223.
324
3.9
254.
342
9.6
468.
848
6.3
Ave
rage
per
stu
den
t (£
)2,
310
2,36
02,
420
2,49
02,
810
3,02
03,
110
5,02
05,
270
5,29
0
No
n-I
nco
me
Ass
esse
d L
oan
Num
ber
of s
tude
nts
79,6
3577
,465
76,4
6578
,370
77,9
2080
,785
81,5
8539
,980
43,6
1047
,415
Am
ount
(£
mill
ion)
63.0
61.2
61.0
63.1
62.3
64.3
66.5
165.
519
4.7
215.
4
Ave
rage
per
stu
den
t79
079
080
080
080
080
081
04,
140
4,46
04,
540
Inco
me
Ass
esse
d L
oan
Num
ber
of s
tude
nts
59,3
1057
,480
56,1
8057
,810
60,1
3059
,390
59,7
8545
,675
45,3
7544
,590
Am
ount
(£
mill
ion)
114.
011
4.3
117.
712
5.5
137.
415
3.9
161.
926
4.1
274.
227
0.8
Ave
rage
per
stu
den
t (£
)1,
920
1,99
02,
100
2,17
02,
290
2,59
02,
710
5,78
06,
040
6,07
0
Ad
dit
ion
al In
com
e A
sses
sed
Lo
an
Num
ber
of s
tude
nts
16,9
8016
,405
15,0
7515
,465
31,8
6534
,520
33,8
85-
--
Am
ount
(£
mill
ion)
8.9
8.8
8.2
8.6
23.6
25.7
25.9
--
-
Ave
rage
per
stu
den
t (£
)52
054
055
056
074
074
076
0-
--
Higher Education Student Support in Scotland 2015-16
69
Table A12: Full-time students receiving DSA support by disability type
Type: Full-time | Session: 2012-13 to 2015-16
Nu
mb
er
of
Stu
den
ts
Am
ou
nt
(£ m
illio
n)
Nu
mb
er
of
Stu
den
ts
Am
ou
nt
(£ m
illio
n)
Nu
mb
er
of
Stu
den
ts
Am
ou
nt
(£ m
illio
n)
Nu
mb
er
of
Stu
den
ts
Am
ou
nt
(£ m
illio
n)
Tota
l
Any
dis
abili
ty t
ype
4,04
57.
494,
265
7.74
4,27
07.
244,
355
7.73
Dis
abili
ty T
ype
Dys
lexi
a2,
380
3.13
2,62
53.
532,
610
3.22
2,46
03.
07
Mul
tipl
e di
sabi
litie
s-
--
-19
50.
3847
51.
25
Men
tal h
ealt
h pr
oble
m25
00.
4224
50.
3326
50.
3632
50.
48
Aut
isti
c sp
ectr
um d
isor
der
900.
2710
50.
2515
00.
3719
00.
48
Uns
een
dis
abili
ty-
--
-30
0.03
140
0.37
Vis
ual i
mpa
irm
ent
120
0.46
850.
3985
0.27
850.
26
Hea
ring
impa
irm
ent
900.
4395
0.55
900.
4480
0.48
Lear
ning
dis
abili
ty55
0.10
100.
0215
0.03
650.
06
Phys
ical
hea
lth
prob
lem
100
0.34
550.
1965
0.18
600.
18
Phys
ical
or
mot
or im
pair
men
t10
50.
4975
0.34
550.
1960
0.29
Soci
al, e
mot
iona
l and
beh
avio
ural
dif
ficu
lty
200.
04*
*5
0.01
100.
02
Dea
fblin
d*
*5
0.02
**
--
Lang
uage
or
spee
ch d
isor
der
**
--
**
**
Oth
er m
oder
ate
lear
ning
dif
ficu
lty
50.
025
0.01
**
**
Oth
er s
peci
fic
lear
ning
dif
ficu
lty
( e.
g. n
umer
ic)
100.
01*
*35
0.06
650.
09
Oth
er78
51.
7894
52.
1165
01.
6832
00.
70
Mis
sing
200.
0110
0.00
100.
005
0.00
2012
-13
2015
-16
2013
-14
2014
-15
Annex 4. Data Tables
70
Table A13: Full-time student type of support by SIMD quintile
Type: Full-time | Session: 2015-16
SIMD: Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation 2012
Analysis is based on those students where the provided home address is a valid Scottish postcode. Home address is that provided by the student and may not necessarily reflect where there permanent residence is - for example, they may declare their term-time address as being the home address. As such the analysis may not reflect the actual residence circumstances of the students.
SIMD identifies small area concentrations of multiple deprivation across all of Scotland in a consistent way. The SIMD ranks small areas (called datazones) from most deprived (ranked 1) to least deprived (ranked 6,505). Analysis here is based on quintiles which split the ranks in to five equal sized groups, such as the 20% most deprived areas in Scotland.
← 20% most deprived 20% least deprived →
1 2 3 4 5 All
Any support
Number of students 19,450 20,860 24,500 28,710 34,745 128,265
Amount (£ million) 135.0 134.9 150.2 168.4 187.8 776.3
Average per student 6,940 6,470 6,130 5,860 5,400 6,050
Bursary and grants
Number of students 12,630 10,830 9,830 8,770 7,350 49,410
Amount (£ million) 17.6 14.4 12.9 11.4 9.3 65.5
Average per student 1,390 1,330 1,310 1,300 1,270 1,330
Fees
Number of students 18,090 19,555 23,265 27,595 33,600 122,105
Amount (£ million) 30.4 34.0 42.7 53.1 67.9 228.1
Average per student 1,680 1,740 1,840 1,930 2,020 1,870
Loans
Number of students 15,035 15,595 17,800 20,405 22,630 91,465
Amount (£ million) 87.2 86.7 94.7 104.0 110.7 483.3
Average per student 5,800 5,560 5,320 5,100 4,890 5,280
Higher Education Student Support in Scotland 2015-16
71
Annex 5. Early analysis of 2016-17 applications
This section provides an early indication of applications received in 2016-17 for the main full-time Undergraduate and Postgraduate schemes. Figure A1 shows the number of full-time student applications received by September of each year for 2007-08 to 2016-17. These are interim figures based on the number of applications that have been received by, for example, the 1st September 2016 for the 2016-17 session.
For the 2016-17 session, around 147,060 applications had been received before September 2016 (a 0.9% increase from 145,795 at the same point in the 2015-16 session).
Figure A1: Number of applications by September of each year for full-time student support and domicile of student
Type: Full-time | Session: 2007-08 to 2016-1754
SAAS have been encouraging students to apply early for their funding since 2010-11 and have undertaken more targeted advertising and marketing to raise awareness of this. It is possible that this has the effect of seeing increasing proportions of applicants who apply early then withdraw and are not supported by SAAS.
54 2016-17 are provisional as at September 2016, year-end figures will be available October 2017
122,505 124,845130,680 133,175 133,890 135,375
140,985 143,925 145,795 147,060
113,825 115,300119,660 121,855 122,020 122,365
126,575 128,675 130,195 131,500
8,680 9,545 11,020 11,320 11,870 13,010 14,410 15,250 15,600 15,560
0
20,000
40,000
60,000
80,000
100,000
120,000
140,000
160,000
2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17
Total Scottish domiciles EU domiciles
Annex 5. Early analysis of 2016-17 applications
72
There are a number of factors that will affect the number of students that are actually supported. For example some applicants withdraw from their courses, some do not attend their courses, and some applications will be rejected by SAAS because of eligibility rules. There may also be applications which are identified as duplicate applications, for example where a student attempts to submit an application online (via the SAAS website) though then also sends in a paper version – one of the duplicate applications would need to be withdrawn.
Table A14 gives a comparison of the number of applications that have been received by September within each year and the final numbers actually supported at the end of the year. Final figures on the number of students actually supported by SAAS in 2016-17 and the amounts paid will be published at the end of the session.
Table A14: Number of applications for full-time student support and proportion of students receiving support by end of session
Type: Full-time | Session: 2010-11 to 2015-16
In 2015-16, 93.0% of applications had been received by September 2015, a slight decrease from 2014-15 (93.3%). Of the 156,825 applications received by the end of the 2015-16 session, 141,000 resulted in students receiving support from SAAS (89.9%).
For the 2016-17 session, SAAS have so far received 147,060 applications for full-time students support. If the number applying by September follows the same proportion as 2015-16 then SAAS may expect to receive around 158,000 applications by the end of the 2016-17 session (assuming 93% received by September 2016) and of these around 142,200 may expect to receive financial support (assuming 90%)55.
55 These are very rough approximations based on outcomes seen in 2015-16. These may not happen in reality,
and the number of applications and those who subsequently receive financial support may be higher or lower.
2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16
Number of students who had applied:
by September within session 131,215 132,610 135,585 140,985 143,925 145,795
by end of session 145,560 147,850 150,215 151,460 154,195 156,825
% all students who had applied by September 90.1% 89.7% 90.3% 93.1% 93.3% 93.0%
Number of suported students:
by end of session 133,990 135,375 137,270 139,370 141,000 141,000
% all supported students by end of session 92.1% 91.6% 91.4% 92.0% 91.4% 89.9%
Higher Education Student Support in Scotland 2015-16
73
Annex 6. A National Statistics Publication for Scotland
The United Kingdom Statistics Authority has designated these statistics as National Statistics, in accordance with the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 and signifying compliance with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.
Designation can be interpreted to mean that the statistics: meet identified user needs; are produced, managed and disseminated to high standards; and are explained well.
Correspondence and enquiries
For enquiries about this publication please contact:
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The data collected for this statistical publication:
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You may use or re-use this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. See: www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence
Published by the Student Awards Agency for Scotland, 25 October 2016
This document is available on the SAAS website: www.saas.gov.uk